well, i'm onto my 5th brew so i can still remember these purchasing questions... fwiw i ended up pricing a kit out at my local homebrew shop and i brew on an electric stovetop with good results
for the basic 1 brew on the cheap bare minimum (to see if you like it), i would recommend having on hand...
1. 1x 6.5 gallon or greater plastic fermenter with lid!
2. 1x airlock (i like the 3 piece airlock, you can actually clean it)
3. 1x bottle capper
4. 24x 22oz bottles (or ~48 12oz bottles)
5. a brewing kit like brewer's best...
6. thermometer (be sure it can read down in the 70-80 F
7. a big pot, a least 2 gallons
8. some iodophor or star san sanitizer!
9. tubing (for siphoning)
thermometer (5-10 bucks at local walmart/target)
plastic fermenter + lid (20 bucks)
airlock (1-2 bucks)
bottlecapper (15 bucks retail, i think)
brewer's best kit (~40 bucks depending on variety/brand)
iodophor (small one is 4-5 bucks)
tubing (3-4 bucks)
scrounge some bottles and assuming you have a big pasta pot, you're ready to rumble!
so that bare minimum runs you ~100 bucks including a brewer's best ingredient kit, not bad.
i'm finding out that more and more people do only a primary fermentation for 2-3 weeks then straight to bottle. i've since adopted this practice but i did buy a secondary better bottle carboy. instead of having it empty all the time, it is now a dedicated apfelwein maker
i'd say, get the minimum equipment and spend the extra dough on the brew ingredients. that way you'll find out what equipment you'd like to have along the way.
if you're committed to the hobby, i'd suggest adding an auto siphon and a thief. another item that everyone says is indispensable is a wort chiller. i'll let you know how indispensable that is once i get mine in 5 days
enjoy!