I also recommend attending a trad shoot in your area, it will help reduce your learning curve tremendously.
You might also contact Mike at Maddog Archery, he makes a budget bow called the MUTT, which is just black glass and whatever leftover woods he has laying around. Good bows and he'll stand behind whatever he builds.
Do your shopping for arrows and accessories at a traditional archery shop as well, few compound centered shops know much about trad bows and arrows. I recommend Raptor Archery (Hood River, Oregon), 3Rivers, Kustom King, and Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear (Arvada, Colorado). All these shops sell bows as well, some used as well as new.
http://raptorarchery.com/http://www.3riversarchery.com/http://www.kustomkingarchery.com/http://www.rmsgear.com/store/pc/index_new.asp
