Welcome. Before killing a credit card, I would suggest giving some thought to what areas of turning seem interesting. Too often a person buys a small lathe and tools because he or she just wants to turn pens. Then they decide to try bowls small enough to fit on their lathe. Then they want to be able to turn slightly larger bowls, and have to buy a different lathe, and perhaps larger tools. Then they become interested in lamps, and need a lathe with a longer capacity. And so on.
As mentioned in an earlier post, there is an Ohio group focused on turning pens. If you could attend one or two of their get togethers you can begin to see the different types of materials used for pen bodies, and the two types of lathe tools that can be used - traditional cutting tools like gouges and scrapers, and carbide tip tools.
It might be worth even a couple hour drive to attend a couple meetings of a more general wood turning group, for expose to turning ornaments. lidded boxes, all kinds and shapes of bowls, spindles, hollow vessels, . . . Some wood turning groups bring in demonstrators, give classes, offer mentoring, and more.