I agree with BjornBee, here. Get an "outfit and tools" kit, but decide what hive components and sizes you want and buy/build those separately. Here's a quick item-by-item run down of what you get in most "outfit and tools" kits:
Essential:
Veil - This is essential equipment. You may or may not put the veil on every time to work the hives, but you will find this to be your single best piece of protective gear. DO NOT buy one integrated with a jacket or suit. See my comments on jackets and suits for why you should get a separate veil.
Smoker - I think I have lit my smoker four or five times in the last two seasons. If you are only working a handful of hives, a spray bottle full of light sugar-syrup is just as effective. That said, if you choose to buy a smoker, get a big one only if you expect to grow beyond ten or twelve hives. Smaller smokers hold enough fuel for about an hour's burn, fuel-type depending, and are less time-consuming to clean. You will want to clean your smoker at least once per season, if you use it very much at all.
Hive tool - Longer is not necessarily better. The hook type is not necessarily better. I started with the paint-scraper type when I work in WA. When I moved to Alaska and bought all my own gear, I got a hook type and had to figure out how to use it elegantly. PICK ONE STYLE AND STICK TO IT. If you change styles, you get a new learning curve.
Suits and Jackets - These are a great confidence booster early in your beekeeping "career" but you will rapidly tire of getting into and out of them every time you work with the bees. Still, they do come in handy when you work in marginal weather or with a grumpy hive.
Gloves - Traditional goat or lamb skin beekeeper's gauntlets are great! I buy nitrile gloves at Napa in 500 count boxes, anyway, for doing auto-repair and I find I get stung less often through the nitrile than I do the animal skin. The elastic band at the end of the beekeeper's gauntlets invariably needs repair at least once per season. You can feel more through nitrile than goat/lamb skin. YMMV, but I think you'll be happier in then end with disposable nitrile gloves.
Bee Brush - I don't own one and I doubt I ever will.
Book - You will eventually accumulate quite a collection of beekeeping books. It seems most kits are coming with The Beekeeper's Handbook by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile or The Backyard Beekeeper by Kim Flottam. These are both excellent books to start out with.
Now, other beekeepers may pick little nits about my earlier comments, but I think most will generally agree with them. Where people really start arguing is over the hive components themselves.
Type - Langstroth? British National? Dadant/Blatt? Top-bar (Kenya or Tanzania?) hive? Other? This is choice is, to some extent, pretty personal. Generally, you will be able to find the most support, locally, by using the same style hive as everyone else in your nearby area. TBH and "other" are almost entirely for the do-it-yourself type because you likely will not find anyone in you area with extensive experience working with them.
Boxes - If you are in the Americas or Australia, you probably have chosen the Langstroth because everyone else has, too. Now, you get to decide on your box size arrangement. Deeps? Mediums? Shallows? There are pros and cons to each and this choice is actually pretty personal. Just remember: for the most part, the bees don't care, so use what you like.
Frames/Foundation - Oh, boy! Really touchy subject, here. Wood or plastic? Plastic or wax foundation? Full sheet foundation, starter strip or none at all? Cell size? Wires or no wires? Again, the bees really don't much care (or they adapt easily and quickly, at any rate). This is a personal choice and almost nobody here is going to naysay your choice.
Bottoms, tops, queen excluders, feeders, etc. - Guess what? You seen it before and here it comes again: The bees don't seem to care. Use what seems right to you.
As a general rule, you don't want to get too experimental at once and especially not right out of the gate and a new-beek. Pick a standard set of "stuff" and stick to it for a couple seasons before you start doing much experimentation.