Josh, I do have a low end Canon DSLR (EOS 100D) with a standard lens which is a very good camera.
I am not that concerned about the learning curve or making blunders. All part of the experience.
Need to dive into the deep end sometimes. I have reasonably good background in astronomical phenomena and using a basic reflector and refractor telescope. Astrophotography sounds like lots of fun, even with the obvious frustrations of getting clear images.
I remember constructing a stellar tracker mount for a camera out of two planks of wood, some hinges and a threaded bolt of specific pitch. Just followed the instructions and you were able to follow objects in the sky by turning the bolt at one revolution per minute (like the second hand of a clock). This enabled longer exposures without star trails etc. Very crude set up, but at the time a great little project for a young teenager.
Looked something like this, except I didn't have a tripod at the time, so I just had the tracker set up on a table. You could obtain good long exposures if you had a steady hand and aligned the tracker accurately.
http://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/...slrtracker.jpg