The game's somewhere between EVE and Dwarf Fortress on its friendliness to first-timers. I did at least have the advantage of having played the game since the days of X: Beyond the Frontier, the first game (which was, with the benefit of hindsight, pretty awful). Understanding the races, what they do and what they need is a massive bootstrap to getting on your feet in the game.
But seriously, get about 4m to 6m credits, read my recommendations on the first page.
Oh, and in the sector Home of Light (one south of Argon Prime) there's a massive structure called the TerraCorp HQ which sells an item called the Jumpdrive for 100k.
BUY THIS ITEM. BUY IT.