You've received some excellent advice from some of the real pros on the boards. If you do only half of what they say, you'll be doing better than most noobs!
DON'T buy every tool you see. Going whole hog and buying up every tool, knick-knack and supply will break your budget long before the skill in using them will be learned. Start off small (though maybe not quite so small as 1:72, a scale I find difficult to see!), and ease yourself into it. I bought the Revell line of 1:48 models to (re)start with, as they were relatively cheap, and pretty simple to build. Sticking with the US aircraft makes painting a LOT easier.
DO NOT get discouraged by poor results. If you don't make mistakes, how will you learn better techniques.
DO Wait to get into an airbrush. Simple paint jobs done with patience can look every bit as good as a sloppy airbrushing job done by a beginner! Rattle cans are capable of some pretty decent work. Once you've proven to yourself that this is the hobby for you, then go and get an airbrush, they are an excellent tool!
DO read up on techniques! FSM has some great tutorials in each month's issue, and also has some free and for pay PDFs online that you can download. Search these forums, and the internet, for online tutorials (check out Hawkeye's site, as well as www.swannysmodels.com).
DO try acrylic paints. I find them easier to clean up with, and that alone is worth any perceived difficulty with using them. You can use Windex with Ammonia to completely remove the paint from a model, so you can get a second chance when things don't work out quite so well.
DO have fun with this hobby. Hobbies are meant to be enjoyable, and stressing yourself out over costs, problems and defects will soon turn it into a job, and those tend to get shelved.