Dude, mine came in at about $40 000 !

If you are determined to go the PC rout, have a look for Behringer kit on eBay. It is not the best, but better than the radioshack alternative. Even if it dies after a year you will have learnt from the experience and will know what you want and what to look out for when next time comes along (as well as what the buttons do). ANother good thing to do is work out exactly what you want to do. Are you going to be recording local bands or just your self. The former can get very expensive, the latter can be done very cheaply.

For example, you could get a cheap large diaphragm condenser microphone, a channel strip and a set of flat response near field monitors for a couple of hundred bucks. Or do what Schmange dose and rather than use a channel strip get a mixing desk. Behringer make these also (like the Eurodesk). Desks are great to monitor through even if you are only taking two channels out to a sound card. If you only recording your self, do you really need more than two channels at a time ? Recording only really gets expensive when you want to record multiple channels simultaneously !

FYI, A hundred buck computer is going to be a royal pain in the ass. You might want to think about an all in one studio in a box. You will spend more time recording and less time swearing cos it isn't working / drivers aren't supported / bits wont fit / the HDD has just died etc etc. They are also (comparatively) cheaper than going the computer rout. That said "studios in a box" are not as powerful, versatile or upgradable as computer DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) however these are only really limitations for more experienced users who want full midi integration.

However it is also worth remembering that more expensive doesn't always mean better. I'm about to re-buy a $200 ART preamp. This little guy will sit next to a big bad old Avalon (~10 x the price). Why, because I can get brilliant clean guitar sounds out of the ART. Dose it sound as good as the Avalon on vocals or, well any thing else? No, however I only really want it for the guitar tone which is exceptional !

Once you have a working core you can then add bits as the need calls or cash permits. The best bit is that you are learning about the recording process and what works and what doesn't.