I would recommend the Vectric products. They are super easy to learn, yet there is not much that you can't do with them. I was creating professional looking signs in a matter of hours after purchasing V-Carve Pro, and even after using it for nearly a year I still have not mastered all the little tips and tricks. So there is room to grow into it too. All depends on what you want to do.
Cut2D is a great place to start, but I went with Pro. I just use it for generating toolpaths. I do all my design work in Illustrator.
Alex