Greetings from Nebraska and welcome to the IAP community - Go Bulldogs, 2021 NCAA College World Series Champions!
I was in your shoes about 5 years ago. I had no experience with turning, so I started out with a Harbor Freight lathe and inexpensive steel tools. It didn't take me very long to realize I was hooked so, not having a sharpening system, I bought carbide tools and did a retrofit on my lathe with a variable speed DC motor. A couple of years later I replaced the lathe with a variable speed JET 1221. I hope you have many years of enjoyment turning pens and I am anxious to see your work.
Regards,
Dave
PS Keep an eye out on the forum for blanks and stuff that members gift or sell at negligible cost to new turners. The PITH (Pen In The Hat) pen exchanges are also a lot of fun and the exchanges usually wind up with more stuff than just a pen - blanks, kits, bushings, etc. In the last PITH I participated in, the package I received from Tim Spronz in Grapevine, Texas had a couple of pens along with a bunch of unique blanks. Irish Bog Oak that Tim picked up in Ireland, Fordite from the Jeep plant in Toledo Ohio, some Corian, some Acrylics, some Spectraply, and a custom blank made from Colored Pencils.
One of the forums is dedicated to PITH exchanges. In addition to some of the organized annual exchanges, it includes a "Random Pith Exchanges" thread that people occasionally take advantage of as well.