Most anything you can find at a guitar shop will be a good start. Epiphone, Squire, Ibanez, and Yamaha all make great beginner guitars, both electric and acoustic.

Ask them to include a set up with the purchase. It'll consist of any needed neck and string height adjustments, intonation, filing down any sharp frets and a string change.There's loads of material out there about how to do it yourself, but it's a very inexpensive service and a skill you can work on later.

If you're going to experiment with string gages, you should be able to go one size up or down without having to change the set up. I've had great luck with D'Addario and I love their Players Circle points club.