I'm also a big fan of the PIC family, they are easy to use, there are 1000's of example circuits, programming books, development systems, etc.
Myke Predko has a number of good PIC books. If you are just starting out I'd suggest
123 PIC Microcontroller Experiments for the Evil Genius as a way to learn both the programming and electronic side. One of his books comes with a circuit board to give you a head start.
Parallax's propeller is a good choice, as is their
Basic Stamp chip family. Once again, like the PIC there are a number of good development systems to use.
Another program in Basic chip is the
BasicX-24 microIt has a very good development tool. It's PC based, so that may be an annoyance for you.
Robodyssey sells a very nice support board (and the chip) along with a great
programming and robotics book
My suggestion, if you are just going to do this one project, Basic Stamp. If you think you'll do some minor robotics stuff with sensors and servos, then choose BasicX. Serious micro development, go with the PIC. Advanced programming, then the Propeller chip.
Good luck!
Foster