Hi Benfuqua
Congrats on starting an enjoyable passtime. I have one piece of advise.
Do not let the dive store sell you dive gear that is not suitable for the diving you intend to do. Get trained ,and get the basic equipment you need now.
I'm sure that many a novice diver spends more that is ness.I went down a similar road when I first learned to dive, spent an enormous ammount of money only to find after a few months later that I had bought at the recommendation of the dive store a lot of gear that was unsuitable for the diving that I was doing at that time.Anyway happy hunting for your scuba gear. Les