You will never go wrong with Nikon or Canon. Both have been around a long time and are about the same with regards to image quality. They are the top two companies that people trust most with Sony coming in 3rd. I personally shoot Canon and have been since my days as a film photographer but many of my friends shoot Nikon. And I will admit that at my day job in the hospitals I work at I use a Nikon. For me it’s a little more than personal preference. When the shutter on my Canon AE-1 jammed and the camera shop could not repair it I was hurt to my core. My husband, who I was only dating at the time, said lets go digital. I thought he was nuts, but so began my journey. I started shooting with a Canon Rebel XS (but really anything in the Rebels line will be a great starter and you can pick them up for between $500-$1000).
Lenses…My advice on lenses is this: I don’t think you should skip the kit lens especially if you are just starting out, but if you are wanting a fixed focal length lens (one that does not zoom will also tend to be sharper as well.) I recommend that you invest in a 50mm f/1.8. The f/1.8 is around $100-$150.00. Also, it is best to buy a lens that does one thing, and does that one thing well, than to buy one “do it all” lens like the 18-200mm which has a wide focal length and is very slow as a result, but is not very sharp and is not good in low light.
If you do need a good zoom lens for portrait or any journalistic type of work, I would suggest the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8. They make lenses that that have EITHER a Canon or Nikon mount, which simply means that you tell the clerk which camera type you have and they pull the Tamron lens that’s appropriate for your needs off of the shelf.
