I'd go with a really good high performance street tire first. There are some who disagree, but most agree that it's better to learn on street tires. The limits of a street tire are lower and easier to find.

Switching to an autocross tire early in the game will get you plenty more grip, and you'll immediately be faster, but the limits of those tires are much higher and they come with less warning. The result is usually that you'll probably drive well under the limits of the tires most of the time. And when you do approach the limits, you'll shoot right past them because you haven't learned to smoothly drive at the limit.

If you really want to go with stickies, though... look into Toyo RA-1's. They are a step below the Kumho's, but that won't matter for a novice. Their benefit is that they "wear like iron" for an autocross tire, and they don't heat-cycle like the others do. Unlike the typical autocross tire that starts going "off" due to heat-cycles toward the end of it's life, the RA-1 is often reported to just get better and better as it wears and will be just as grippy right before you reach cord as it was new.

I'm actually thinking about getting a set for street tires. They might last 5k or so on the street.