/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Hello.
All the music/vocaloid composing has made me want to actually get off my ass and try to learn some piano, who knows, maybe I'll feel learning something makes my life worthwhile.
Anyways, if I wanted to keep cost to a minimum, is a MIDI controller enough?
I mean, as long as it's a sort of keyboard I'm happy, I don't mind having to plug it to a pc to get sound out of it. A controller is what I should look for right?
After that I just need to plug it with Fruity Loops, Reason or some other software to have better/different instruments sounds, right?
How many keys would you say it's enough? 61? Is semi-wighted acceptable or do they need to be properly weighted? Keep in mind my budget is limited.

If you want, this can turn into a composer thread afterwards or whatever you want.
Please be gentle, if I wrote something noobish it's because I'm just approaching this.