Needs good software

inkscape.. is free Inkscape. Draw Freely. its a good place to start you can create vector art, trace and also import jpegs

its a fairly easy to use

now, corel and illustrator (are vector based programs for creation's of artwork)
photoshop more for making changes to art and to make things look good on a screen not 100% the best for created art. You can create artwork in photoshop but it will but vector (even converting it to an .eps)

Paint is just another program to fix artwork but will not create vector.

To get clean original artwork you want Illustrator or Corel.. they have excellent tracking tools to help vector jpegs and what not..

Inkscape does a majority of these functions but the tracing to vectorize isn't the greatest.. you would need to invest in Vector Magic to help with that.

Inkscape I would say is your best bet since its free..get vector magic (3 months at time for like $30) and every time you renew you get points towards the desktop model.

I would also take a look at Serif Drawplus. I've recently rediscovered this program and it surprised me how nice it is. It's like $79.00. On the site it says $99.00, but after you install the demo it has a pop up that says $79.00 if you hurry up and buy it now! LOL That is a vector application. Most of us tend to have both a vector application and a raster application. For raster apps, Photoshop is the heavyweight champion, and it has a price tag to match. You're looking for cheap or free so maybe you will check out freeware "Gimp". It the farthest cry from Photoshop. I've tried it but it crashes like there's no tomorrow. Some people say they get use out of it though. There's also Corel Paint Shop Pro. Again, it's cheap, but not a professional application. I think it's around $59.00 now, or something like that. There's also another raster program called Paint.net that's freeware. There are others as well as other vector applications but you definitely get what you pay for in this area.

I am a corel draw user and I use inkscape tracing all the time. Get inkscape, try it, learn it first. Its completely free and it should get you going. Most of us are not graphic artists and don't really need the advanced features expensive programs have. Make an effort to master inkscape and if you feel it can't do what you want to do the cross the bridge when you get there.

But before crossing the bridge, be sure to download trial versions of the commercial programs you have in mind so you don't have surprises on the other side-to make sure what you are looking for is there.

GIMP is a worthy contender to Photoshop. I only took a peek at it many years ago but a friend's friend I met a few times does great images with it. I've seen some of his works and was very impressed. Tried convincing me to shift to GIMP but I never had the chance to learn it.

Believe, these freewares may be more than enough you can handle so don't be afraid of giving it a try first. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.