I'll tell you what I was told.
Longbow vs Recurve - whichever you like best. Try to shoot both and see which one you naturally do better at.
Draw weight - 40-50# Don't let the low weight fool you, it's harder to shoot 40# then 70# with 65%+ letoff. And remember, that's @ a 28" drawlength, add or subtract 3# for each inch over or under 28, respectively, your drawlength is.
It's too late to be ready for this season's hunt so try to make one of the shoots or come to one of our scheduled hunts empty handed and you'll get a chance to shoot a lot of different bows and get some first-hand advice. You could spend the day practicing in camp or maybe shooting at squirrels. As far as cheap bows check out your local pawn shop for an old bow. If the limbs are not twisted and there's no visible cracks and it's in the right poundage it should be good enough to use. I'd order a new string though. As for arrows, it's best to find a shop that knows trad bows and ask them to help you tune. You're most likely going to need a 2016, or weaker, arrow at the poundage you should start out at.
Anyone else got anything to add?