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Not sure on budget, but take a look at the Canon Factory Refurbished bodies if you decide to look into the Canon route; direct from the factory, comes with warranty, and gets rave reviews for a perfect camera at lower cost. I don't know much about the Nikon bodies since I shoot Canon, but you can't go wrong with either Canon or Nikon and would be buying into well established systems.
I'd recommend grabbing a few photography books or reading websites to understand your exposure triangle. Go out and experiment to understand how things impact your image. Pick up a 50mm prime with a large aperture, usually relatively inexpensive, to pair with the zoom lens.
I'd also consider looking at image editing software and learning how to shoot in raw. Modern day post processing gives you so much flexibility and many of the styles people like today are based on post-processing techniques. Learning to shoot properly and getting it right in camera with proper lighting is critical, but it opens up the ability to create some pretty amazing pictures with some basic planning.
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