There aren't community classes (non-graded) from the community college? Are you
sure? Yes, personal instruction is best and then it's practice, practice, practice.
The two books I bought that helped me when I was in your same position (high school classes in metal shop then many years later...) are:
Welder's Handbook -- isbn 1-55788-264-9
Haynes Techbook, Welding Manual (good diagrams of proper welds and what-to-do-if's) -- isbn 1-56392-110-3
Okay, as to the particular welder, here is
my opinion based upon my hobbiests view-point. Get a MIG welder that can use both gas AND flux-core (gas-less). However, you want to weld WITH GAS! It's soooooooooo much easier to do and cleaner...BTDT! The ability to use flux-core is nice just in case, like outside in a windy location where gas wouldn't work well. Also, get a welder that has infinite voltage and wire speed. Again, BTDT and fine tuning the welder makes it much more pleasant. Finally, get on that can use house-hold voltage (115v - 120v). Yeah, 240v is nice but you become VERY limited to where you can weld. With a 115v welder it becomes more portable -- I've taken mine 'on-site' to fix/weld a farmer's tractor plow and his wife's 50+ year old garden shovel (and welded a rod inside to make it stronger
).
You can easily get a welder mentioned above about for $450-$500 new. Don't be afraid to buy a used one if it has all the features you like. There's really not a whole lot to break if it's been treated well. Like with any tool, buy the best that you can and it will serve you well for many years and cost you less in the long run