If I could do it all over again, I think that I would still go with getting a BP first. Corns can be very fast, and as a result can be very intimidating to new herpers. BUT, as far as husbandry goes, they are very easy to take care of. It all depends on what you are looking for in a snake. If you want a slow, easy going snake that likes to sit and hang out, why not try looking into Ball Pythons? Now there's many of different color morphs available that don't put too big of a dent in your wallet. The only 'downside' to BP's is that they really don't make much of a display snake, since they are primarily nocturnal and tend to hide most of the time.
If you're looking for more of a display animal, I'd go with a corn or kingsnake. They are very active and tend to roam their cage, and like I said, also very fast when your handling them.