Getting ready to buy a serious camera for the first time in my life. Just starting to research this online and by talking to friends who have good cameras, and the information just seems overwhelming.

I'm partly motivated by the inability to take good long-range photos with a pocket cam. Partly motivated by the inability to take good action shots. And, I'll admit it, partly motivated by plain ol' camera envy...being in truly stunning photographic spots like the Himalayas and being the only guy basically shooting with a glorified phone cam was pretty lame.

From what I can tell, half of the serious photography world are Nikon people. The other half are Canon people. I tend to see the cameras sold as kits (body, two lenses, bag, cables, memory, etc.) at either Costco or Amazon. Also see lots of Amazon options to buy the body and lenses separately.

This is less of a "where to buy" question than a "what am I looking for" question. I know I'm not going to spend enough to matter a whole lot where I buy...figure Costco or Amazon will be fine. Costco had a Nikon and a Canon kit for around $750 each, plus a 2nd Canon kit for $1100. (The two Canons were the Rebel T3i and the EOS 60D, IIRC.)

Any real pros/cons of the two brands? Big benefits of the slightly-more-expensive camera? Is one easier to use for a n00b than the other?

My wife and I both plan to take a half-day class to learn how to use it, if that matters much...

TIA.