If I had to make that decision, I would always go with high quality first. Reason is you want to limit your number of purchases long-term and not waste money of stuff that you 100% know you will be replacing. That would be a waste and you will end up having a lot of purchases that you will regret and a pile of junk to try to sell. I'd say get the biggest tank your space can handle (will help with water quality starting out) with a decent sized sump, skimmer, return pump, and lights (some of those items can be found on the used market for great prices). Buy your own RO/DI unit and not buy water from an LFS. You will have less headaches with algae outbreaks (buy you will still have them, just maybe not as drastic).
By the time you have cycled your tanks, you can look at lighting (you can use any strip light for cycling your tank so no need to spends thousands of the bat on lighting). If you get a 80 gallon-ish tank, look at the dimension and decide whether you are going to go LED, MH, T5 or a combination of the different techs. Obviously LED is going to cost you much more than MH or T5 so factor that in your decision (also depends on what you are trying to accomplish with you tank that will help determine the lighting for it).
Once you have your lighting that you want determined, look at which powerheads you want for your system. For a tank the size you are looking at, I'd recommend looking into Maxspect Gyres; won't break the bank and you can control them with an Apex if you get one for your setup. Plus, they put out a lot of flow. If you do decide on the Gyres, decide upfront if you want to control them with a controller (save the money and only buy the powerheads and get the Icecap Gyre Interface).
When getting everything setup, try to determine what all you would likely run related to reactors, i.e. GFO, carbon, etc. That can help you determine which return pump you go with for the system. I like having only one pump so I went with a Reeflo Hammerhead and have a manifold plumbed off of it. That manifold and pump combination for me allows me to run whatever reactors I need for my system. Plumbing is just as important in the setup as anything else. Mess it up and you will absolutely regret it later.
I'd also say take the process as slow as possible. You can go too fast and end up out of the hobby just as quick as you got into it. Reefing is definitely rewards, but also takes a lot of patience and time if you want to be successful. Welcome to the club and I wish you the best in your process.
