This thread is a bit older, but I’ll throw in my two cents anyway. Basically, get a Wacom tablet. Even an older Intuos3 in good condition is still a really good drawing tablet. They’re also considerably cheaper than their newer brethren, the 4’s and the 5’s. However, the feeling of drawing on a 3 compared to a 4 or 5 is very different due to the latter two’s different drawing surfaces.
Drawing software is a completely different matter, but still very important. Personally, I use Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, and OpenCanvas. They're each very different, and I use them to draw different things. Painter gives me my most traditional-looking art (pencil, oils, etc). Photoshop is what I use when I want to go for a digital look. I use OC when I don't want to pull up PS, since it's a more lightweight program, but it also has this really cool feature where you can download someone's files and see how they drew it. It’s pretty much like playing back a video.
Nearly all graphics programs have a trial version somewhere. I suggest grabbing lots of trials and seeing which one you like best.