I'm fairly new to the world of hand planing as well, and I'll second
the recommendation of a Steve Knight plane - I have his Pocket plane
and his Jack plane, and they're both great. I'd recommend the Pocket
or one of his Smoothers to start with - email him with what you need
and he'll hook you up, and if you ask really nice, maybe give you a
discount on your first one. Not only are they wonderfully functional,
but they're beautiful as well... I have one in purpleheart and the
other is padauk - wow.
I've also heard nothing but really good things about Lee Valley planes,
but have yet to get one.
Andy