Hey, I'm kind of in the same boat as you, just started a few weeks ago, so take any advice I give with a grain of salt.
Definitely look in Acrylic Gesso, especially if you're in an area where spray priming is difficult due to weather conditions. I picked up some Liquitex Grey gesso and my local craft store, and you get a huge amount of it for pretty cheap. The cool part about it is it actually shrinks on your miniature, and really seems to get into all the detailed areas without covering it up too much. Some people recommend thinning it, but I've found with mine that thinning it tends to make you lose some coverage, so I assume it varies based on brand/color.
http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com/ This guy has some really good advice, as long as you ignore the part about him suggesting to use craft paint. Another good tip I've tried to pick up is too "Paint in the order you would get dressed", as in you should paint the lower, harder to reach areas first. For example, if you paint the eyes before you paint the face, who cares if you mess up and get paint on the face?
I'd also suggest trying to keep your starting equipment kind of middle-of-the-line, quality-wise. I admit, I was tempted to buy a ton of paint and kolinsky sable brushes at first, but as with any hobby, you don't want to spend a huge amount of money at first only to find you end up not being as interested as you first thought. That said, don't go for the really cheap stuff either, because having sub-standard equipment really kills your enthusiasm while just starting out. Think of it like playing an instrument; you don't want to start off buying a $2,000 masterpiece, but you also don't want to learn on a $40 toy either.
And, in my opinion, the most important part about starting painting is: Get miniatures you think look cool! I also suggest making a promise to yourself not to ever strip the first miniature you paint. Even though I only started very recently, I have a witchling stalker that I can look at and already see how I've improved since painting him. He's really a good tool for when I'm feeling discouraged, or thinking to myself "Why did I decide to pick this up again?"