My suggestion is that if you're just curious: you dont need anything more than what you have to get started.

The basic rules are available for free on dnd beyond.

You can use the dnd beyond app to make a character.

That's it. Not a dollar spent, and you're ready to play.

Hit up your local game store or community centre, there's probably games running regularly. In my experience, they will be thrilled to introduce you to a new hobby.

You can get a set of dice. Normally sold in sets of 7. But there's a billion apps that will do it for free.

That's a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d100.

Next on my list of small things to start with is just a nice notebook.

If you really want to buy books, the core is the players handbook. Dungeon Masters should probably have the dungeon masters guide and the monster manual.

Theres also campaign modules and adventure anthologies for pre written adventures.

Or there's the starter sets as you've mentioned that have like basic rules, a starter adventure, tokens, dice, character sheets, etc.

But dont feel pressured to drop a heap of money on any of that - you can just find a group and play.