Well, I'm going to bring up a couple of other ideas. First off, where are you diving? Is it mostly local? Do you have a shop with good rental equipment available to you? (We are very lucky in Seattle; we have quite a few shops that take good care of their rental gear.) Secondly, how difficult are you to fit? If you're average sized and can easily rent a BC that fits you well, that makes the regulators more attractive. If you're a difficult size (very small or very large), buying your own BC first might make more sense, as a poorly fitted BC makes diving quite uncomfortable.
If you are mostly diving on tropical trips, I think I'd go with the majority opinion and get regs. But unlike some of the advice you've gotten, I would NOT recommend going for the top-end regulators at the highest price point. We bought Aqualung Titan LXs as our first regs -- They weren't cheap, but they were far from the top of the line. We have been COMPLETELY happy with the purchase -- the regs have been all over the place, and down to 130 feet, and have performed reliably and comfortably. I use much higher end regs on my doubles, and they do breathe a tad better, but certainly not enough to justify the difference in cost if I had bought them new (which I didn't).
Spend some time doing some research before plunking down dollars on scuba gear. The range of prices and equipment is enormous, and judicious shopping can leave you with extra money to pick up smaller pieces, like dive lights or markers.
