Protools--vs--????, lost in the digi jungle----HELP!! Options

i am starting from the ground up with a home studio ....i definitly want a mac i have my own website and as well as being a musician/composer...im also an artist

what i need to know is basicaly this;;

what is the best and most cost efficant way to build a home studio that will be album quality and provide me with the warmth i enjoyed with 24 track 2'' tape --is this possible on a budget of a few grand or am i fooling myself??--------is protools the right way to go and what kind of mac is best 4 what im doing-----HELP PLEASE---

[Tone]

[ I am an amateur who works with a home VST with no interest in the sale of prorietary products ]

I have been fortunate to find this splendid forum to help in my progress forward from Newbie a few short months ago and I respect the people who make themselves freely available to offer advice on relevant matters to those less knowledgeable on the matters in question.
I read with interest, and admiration, the problems and the methods suggested for solving the same.

However, I see despite the moderators attempts to channel the purpose(s) of the forum(s), it is obvious certain individuals are still misusing the stage for expressing an AVID desire to desparage one company in particular and, though I ignored it for a while expecting this would be a brief outlet of frustration (which I admit to being prone to on occasions), it is turning out to be systematic and continued.

Yes, free speech by all means but please don't take the silence of users of the products/company you hate (myself included - silent until now) as a licence to continue with unproductive name-calling. Personal and persistent attacks can only serve to devalue the aims of the forum and cast doubts on the motive and impartiality expected of those who are involved in providing advice.

We users exist at all levels and so denegrating a certain function for this or that reason compared to this or that Software does not mean it renders the targetted equipment useless and our choice(s) deemed to be determined by fast talking salespersons instead of logical research and advice.

I understand your need to impart information but please make it constructive, detailed and do it (poke the stick?) once and then leave us to decide.
I know there are other forums if I don't like what I read but this one seems to me to be more worthwhile. If I didn't believe this I wouldn't be taking the risk of a worsening the situation by answering in such detail.
I hope I havn't alienated anyone by making this earnest request.

Sincere thanks to those who have afforded me patient help and assistance in the past
Tony