i know how you feel man, when i first began this whole thing i was overwhelmed as well ... good place to start with is reading up on the mods and how to install them as without them the game is pretty broken and unplayable,
next id look at the tutorials from stonianm he has some prett ynice informitive stuff posted and is a huge help. It takes a fair bit of reading but once u get ur head around it the game itself is really immersive and enjoyable...once u get all the frustration out of the way lol...
most of the information can be found here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=181538
hope this helps out a bit for ya.... I was you not very long ago