for $50 you can get the pickit2 and the low pin count demo board. the demo board has 4 leds, a potentiometer on PortA,0 (gpio,0) pulled up reset button on PortA,3 (gpio,3) and ample room for prototyping.
http://www.microchipdirect.com/productsearch.aspx?Keywords=DV164120It should be noted that all the software the supports Pickit2(MPLAB IDE, and pickit2 software) is free and is supported by microchip, and remember that is what you are really paying for. Pickit2 can also be flashed with updated firmware which means that most new chips will be supported so you won't have to wait on legacy issues.
I can't reccomend this kit enough for noob programmers, it will definately reduce the initial pain of getting into microcontrollers. Programming in circuit is the cat's meow, but just remember the blocking diode so that you don't try to power your whole circuit from the programmer.