Seagull guitars are made in China also and respresent excellent value for money. Just to prove the point, a friend of mine ( who has been voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top 1000 guitarists of all time ) cut a whole CD using a $160.00 Seagull electric and it sounded superb, though my advice is to spend the money and buy a very good instrument.
The earlier Takamine's ( pre Martin dispute ) can still be picked up on ebay at a good price and the tone is magnificent on these guitars - they can hold a note for ever. Earlier Fenders are very good too. Be sure to check the action and neck as over time a badly set truss rod can distort the fretboard enough to make playing impossible. Gibson or Martin are very expensive, but you get what you pay for, but my own personal favorite in acoustic guitars are the Larrivee guitars made in Vancouver. BC. http://www.larrivee.com/flash/products/products.html
A good teacher is indispensible, but if you want to go it alone, try a good software package. Guitar Pro is first class http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php and has all the scales, notations, etc. you will ever need. It also links to a database of guitar tabs and plays music on screen so that you can follow along.
Good luck - HS