[Croaker]

go used and go for higher quality.
I scored on used too. I got a used Premier Signia 7 piece kit with 3 snares, 10 sweet zildjian cymbals, heavy duty stands and nice padded cases for 2 grand. The guy must of had it in his closet for years, there wasn't a nick on it. I was shocked when I received it.

As far as recording them goes that is gonna take a lot of practice. The room is going to dictate a lot of things. Do some research. Start with minimal micing and see what kind of sound you can get. There is a ton of information to be found on recording drums.
Make sure to use new heads and learn how to tune them. makes a huge difference. It is good to have a few different snares too.
good luck