Welcome back to the hobby! I drifted away myself, though not for quite as long (significantly cut back in '95, dropped altogether in 2000, came back last summer).
One thing that shocked me was the rise of the internet. In everything else I'm into - cars, photography, movies, etc - it's been gradual. I suppose it has for modeling, too, but coming back and finding all these amazing resources (this forum included!)...access to so much information and so many techniques and tips raised my game way past where it had ever been. My first kit back was heads and tails above anything I'd built growing up, and I've improved miles since then too!
For cements, I prefer to use a slightly hotter liquid solvent - Tenax7R. It's like Testors or Tamiya liquid cements in that it melts and welds the plastic together, but it does it MUCH faster. With armor, I've found I can also often apply it from the inside so there's very little cleanup that has to happen.
I don't use tube glue at all. Closest I come is a tube of some Loctite outdoor adhesive that's basically like a very slow, stronger super glue. Other than that, I use CA and a stunning acrylic glue called Gator's Grip. It's basically similar to Elmers, but on steroids. And unlike CA, which is brittle and has very poor shearing resistance, the Gator's Grip can take a beating. I've knocked over tiny parts and PE bits and been able to literally just stand them back up. So that's what I use for pioneer tools and the like.
Paints...if you're stuck with rattlecans for now...Model Master or Tamiya, in my opinion. Don't have a lot of experience with Tamiya's cans, but I've used their AS-12 bare metal silver and their various clear coats, and they spray very, very well. For brushing, check out Vallejo and Lifecolor. Both are very good.
Not sure what AFV Club kit you got, but the only one of theirs I build (Achilles) I found to be rather a letdown compared to what Dragon, Tasca, Bronco and others are putting out these days. Vague fits, ejector pin marks all over the exterior surfaces, etc. If you want to be absolutely flabbergasted by a kit - go check out Bronco's Archer kit, or I suppose their new Bishop as well!
Also saw that you mentioned magic tracks. Personally, tracks were always my bane when it came to armor as a kid. Not sure if you've heard about them yet, but look into Friul white metal tracks. They can be a bit spendy (Pacific Coast Models has them for about $32 a set, which is the cheapest I've seen), but oh my god. Tedious but easy to assemble, fully workable, and no race to get them in place and properly sagged and such before the cement cures. If I was building armor at some astounding rate, I might shy away from them, but I'm more of an airplane guy, so when I do build armor I'm willing to shell out a bit extra for the super awesome track links.