the price depends how far you really want to go i started with a 5 gallon brew kit 70$ and then bought a partial mash kit then moved up to an all grain setup (mash tun and a larger boil kettle and glass carboy)
presonaly i think the all grain is the best way to learn but it is a pricer setup and you can brew beer just as well with a partial mash setup (plus you lose about 2 hours of work)
if you want to partial mash you will need: 7 gallon pot, chiller(most use a a copper coil or a blickmen chiller), carboy(or other fermentation device) hydrometer(measures alcohol content based on liquid density), then cap the carboy with an airlock and cork.
if you want to do all grain all u need in addition a mash tun i use a 55 gallon cooler(from sams club) that i added a valve and a screen to
theres so much out there on brewing the price really depends how far you go for my current setup i spent around 450$ and i spend about 35$ on ingredients(5 gallon batch) mostly for an English ale http://beerrecipes.org/ has some good ones but for beginners i would start with a kit