I would definitely recommend Wacom as a brand because of the quality of the tablets and how absolutely unbreakable mine (an Intuos 3) has been over the last eight years. It's had the snot beaten out of it time and again because I travel and it still does well. If you want cheaper tablets that are still good, you could look into getting older models than the ones that are currently made. You'd probably have to order them online.

For software, I have used Photoshop (many editions) and SAI. Both are good with tablets because they understand the pressure you put on the tablet while MSPaint won't. Still, you can do cool things without those programs. They are both rather expensive. GIMP is a free alternative to Photoshop that I don't have much experience with, but I know people who swear by it.

Yeah, I don't know if all of their tablets are this durable but mine is a beast.

In terms of size, I'd recommend one of the middle sizes. The big ones are best (because it most mimics movements of traditional art) but they are really big and hard to travel with. The small ones work, but using them will have you working almost entirely from the wrist and my professors scold me for that in other art.

Hm, so I looked at the site again and found one that seems about medium sized and pretty simple, the Intuos Pen. It also comes with 2 art programs and isn't as expensive as the Intuos I had seen previously!
Anyone know anything about, or own, an Intuos Pen?

Edit: Thanks, Flatsoda. c: I found one, but I'm not sure of the size(s) it comes in.

If all you care about is an affordable tablet then you should check out other places than Wacom. Wacom products are really nice quality, and if you can afford that then by all means buy them up. But you can also check out Monoprice (you'll have to search for tablets, they sell tons of other products as well) or Huion tablets, both of which are highly-rated cheap alternatives. A medium-sized tablet costs less then some of Wacom's smaller tablets.
You can find them all on Amazon too if you're not comfortable buying from their sites (don't want to sign up etc).

I've had this Monoprice tablet for 5 years now, and it's still doing plenty fine. It's a decent tablet for my casual use. I plan on upgrading soon, but it's a lovely first tablet... maybe not too pretty, but nice haha (:

I've never used any other tablets than Wacom's, so I can't vouch for others, but I will say that that the two tablets I have used have been excellent.

I actually have quite a funny little tale about them, too. My younger sister and I shared a Bamboo Pen for quite some time, and it'd always been a very reliable machine, until my father threw it's stylus against the window to frighten of a bird that was repetitively tapping against the glass. I doubt he would have told us if the pen had continued working afterwards, but it did not, and so he had to confess, saying that he thought it was an ordinary pen.

However, he did repay us by buying a brand new tablet from Wacom directly (the Intuos Manga, rather than the Intuos Pen & Touch, since the "Manga" came with a free studio). Low and behold, the Bamboo's stylus started working again. So, now, both me and my sister have tablets all to ourselves.

Anyway, it just goes to show that you pay what you get for.