I just started a couple years ago myself, so I'm not qualified to hand out any technical advice, but I will second troutfly's recomendation of a starter set.
I was pretty much confusing myself untill a trusted friend steered me to one of Reddingtons packages, and although I learned a long time ago to never say never, I really don't think I'll ever "need" to upgrade.
Course, there's always that "want/need" thing, but so far I'm enjoying myself and catching fish and that's good enough for me.
