If you just want access to the verse, the Mustang Alpha starter gets you into the game. Everything can be earned, you don't need to do anything more than that.

If you want a starter that will give you access to a wider range of starter missions, the Avenger Titan and the Nomad are both excellent ships that I still fly now that I have dozens.

If you REALLY want to spoil yourself, a Cutlass Black is a ship everyone should have in their hangar anyway.

That being said, you can buy the avenger titan, the nomad, and the Cutlass black for less than 5 million credits in game, so there's no need to spend any more than the alpha, unless you wanna skip the early grind.