To be honest, fightsticks aren't cheap. Best bet for beginners is to get a BrawlStick. Disregard the ass-ugly art and crap buttons, but should you feel like either of those need a revamp, they're both fairly easily modded. I picked up a Street Fighter IV Standard Edition stick when I first got into fighting games, and the stock buttons died within two weeks and had to get them replaced with Sanwas, which was about $20 in itself.

I personally use a MadCatz FightStick PRO modded with a PhreakMods Cerberus. All in all, that's about a $170 investment, but it's durable and works like a dream on PS3, 360, and PC. Another option is getting a FightPad, which provides a little more precision and comfort over a standard controller and won't even break the bank at $25.

That said, there's nothing wrong with playing pad or even keyboard, should you ever find a workaround for your ghosting issue, which I'm not an expert on, unfortunately. It all kinda depends on what you're willing to shell out and if you're really committed.

It depends on your use case, but I find the place I am most likely to spend money first is on the board. I want/need something that easily plays all modern consoles.

That said, I think starting cheap can be perfectly viable. My first stick was this monstrosity. Which over time turned into this little cutie. I ended up paying an art commission, upgrading to Seimitsu parts, and though I've since moved on, I loved that thing.

I'd make sure the one you want has room in the case as not all fightsticks are easily moddable, but yeah... start cheap if you want and build up over a few months or so.