I'm by no means an expert, but set up my first surround sound system about a year ago with the following and have been happy:
For speakers, I went with the Energy Take 5 fronts, rears and center channel (
Amazon link with reviews) and the sound has been great.
I got a Klipsch 10-inch powered subwoofer and an Onkyo receiver (don't recall model number right now) with HDMI pass-through, which was something I needed, but was surprised to see not all of them had. Pass-through lets you watch TV without the surround sound on and through the TV's speakers, even though the HDMI goes from the cable box into the DVR and then into the receiver before going out to the TV. Quite a few of the other budget receivers I looked at didn't offer it, so you had to have the receiver on at all times to watch TV.
There's an overwhelming amount of information out there, but take your time and you'll find something you really like!
