Use VB.Net - available free (basically full-featured). Look for Visual Basic 2010 Express. Hell, Visual Studio 2012 is set to launch on Sept. 12 (4 days from now)!!
As for tutorials and such, I am no help. I don't know of any good resources besides myself. If I ever have questions while programming, I'll google it or ask on VBForums/Stack Overflow.
I don't know what to tell you in regards to getting started.