Epiphone les paul - great guitars, have one - love it (Cherry Sunburst a la Jimmy Page).
However for the same price you can get a nice Fender Strat or Telecaster.
Alternatively, Yamaha Pacifica (can't be arsed to look up their names again) are supposed to be a great guitar too, for a starter.
For a setup - depends how much noise you wish to make. I have a lil 10W Marshall Practice amp - sounds great, I don't turn it up loud and it was cheap.
I also have a much bigger amp that can blow the windows out, and certainly my eardrums. I rarely use it, it would only be suitable in a gig.
So a practice amp may suffice, certainly until you're ready to invest more money in something more flash
If you want something more flash from the start, line 6 do a good range of amp's and associated equipment.
Recommend checking out Total Guitar, as they often do some reviews on things like amps, guitars, strings etc
