Tig's make the strongest welds but are the hardest to do.
If you've never welded before it is tough as hell.
Mig is pretty easy and makes strong enough welds for frame
work. Stick is strong too, but isn't as clean as mig or tig because
it doesn't have the sheilding gas. Plus if you have to do body work it is real hard with a stick.
I'm just out of college so I'm on a budget too. I have a clark mig welder. Most older guys will tell you there's nothin but "miller" or "hobart" or "Lincoln", depending on which they happen to have. Realistically, there isn't much to a welder, you need a wire drive, a gas line, and a lot of juice. I got a Clark that runs off 220V with a max output of 180amps and a min of 30amps. I use it for body work to frame work. It cost $400. My dad has run a machine/welding shop for 30 years and has $8000 welders. He told me unless I'm gonna run the thing 9 hours a day 6 days a week, it will be fine to get the cheap one.
Another thing you need to keep in mind when comparing price is the "duty cycle." Duty cycle is what you pay for. It is basically the percentage of a 15 minute interval that you can weld at a certain power.
For example- 80% duty cycle at 150amps.
This means you can weld at 150amps for 80% of 15 minutes, and you have to let the welder cool for 20% of 15 minutes.
My welder is cheap because it has a short duty cycle at high power. This only matters if you are running a business and are paying a welder to work. If you are using this in your garage you can afford to let it cool.