As ntstlgl1970 said, "Nikon or Canon, I don't think you can go wrong with either"
For those that don't know much about camera gear, the rivalry between Nikon and Canon is almost as strong as the Cheby / Mopar one.
Buy decent memory cards be it SD or CF. Stay away from ebay for them. Most of the ones on there are Chinese clones/fake and run very poorly.
The 18-200 VR is supposed to be a great lens. It sells for less than 1k.
www.bhphoto.com is highly recommended by tens of thousands of people.
I prefer to buy locally so that I can get a feel for what I'm getting before forking out a few grand.
I've spent more money on my camera in the last year than I have my car...