Well.. I would say you should look into either Paint Shop Pro 9 (or if you can find 8 cheaply.. that is perfect!) or Adobe elements 3. Both are considered "pro" level products with full rich feature sets but setup in a way perfect for beginners.

I always suggest new users start with a product they can grow with down the road... that way, once you master the basics, you will be able to use the same product family to advance to the next level. With Elements.. you easily move to photoshop (the defacto standard)..

Anyway... Good Luck!