I finally decided to pony up for a prosumer camera, in part because Amazon had a good deal on a Nikon DX40 with two lenses (18mm-55mm and a 18mm-200mm). The lenses aren't great lenses, but they're good "beginner" lenses. That is to say, they're cheap and good for most common shooting situations. I just need lots of light to shoot well.
That said, the camera is really nice- I was pleasantly surprised by how good the flash was. Since I was shooting in RAW mode, it was real easy to color correct the images in iPhoto, so the flash didn't wash things out. There are way too many buttons though (or too few?)- changing the f/stop is a matter of pressing and holding one button while adjusting a control knob. It's a very modal interface, and that means lots of "what setting does the knob adjust right now?" type questions. I was spoiled by my last digital, which had a great UI for managing everything, but wasn't an SLR. I'm sure I'll get used to it.