Welcome to TheFret, Pongo!
I was in a very similar situation in 2002. I ended up getting an Ibanez jumptart package. I liked the playability of the guitar, especially the thin neck for my beginner's fretting hand.

In the meantime I got rid of, pretty much all the pieces from that package, except for a fuzz pedal and cables. So, if I was to do it again, I would go for a guitar and an amp of slightly higher quality, keepers - in other words.

In either instance, you'll get a ton of good advice.