Kits are the easiest way to start off - depending on tastes and budget there are kits that range from bog standard bitter and equally bog stand lager right through to barley wines, wonderful dark ales etc...
THe equipment is not expensive - pretty well a big fermentation bucket (usual kits are 5 gallon c23-24 litres) and a tub of sodium metabisulphite for sterilising stuff.
Typical is a week or two in the tub (greatly affected by temperature) in which the primary fermentation occurs, then transfer to the pressure containers (pop bottles etc or even a special pressure keg) with a half spoonful-ish sugar into each for secondary fermentation /conditioning - which gives it the main fizz. Usually in the bottles anything from a couple of weeks to as long as your selfdiscipline allows, once again affected greatly by temperature. This cold snap has certainly put a bit of a brake on my current batch!
When you pour out, being careful not to disturb the sediment of course, you realise why brewing your own is worth the faff.
Later can invest in additional bits and bobs such as hydrometer, pressure keg etc and look at easing away from kits into more open recipes. Or not - plenty of people simply stick with kits they know they like, perhaps with a little tweaking.