This is my personal standpoint, but I would rather avoid large companies. Especially if you are new to this area and do not know deeply what awaits for you. Large companies like hostgator have good features but sometimes they oversell or 'forget' about the clients.

For start I would recommend you going with not big provider, like, hqhost.net - they are very stable and have affordable prices.

I also think you shouldn't sign up as soon as you see the offer: compare several plans from different companies and then decide what would be the best for you!

Good luck!