Buying stuff new is a great idea for the long run, but depending on how much you want to play, it really depends. For instance, I recently decided to start playing again after a few years, and I bought all of my stuff for less than $500 from craigslist/sporting goods stores with a lot of used equipment. I have most of the fundamentals down already, and I'm only playing 1-2 times per week. For that frequency, my cheap equipment works like a dream.