Best advice I can give you is find someone you know and trust who plays guitar (preferably for more than a couple of years) and take them shopping with you. He'll make sure you get your biggest bang for the buck (we were all beginners at one point and know what we would have liked in a starter guitar). There are some good deals out there to be had in the low-end market; much better than when I got my first instrument.

And don't worry too much about the look being too "country" for a rocker. Every rocker, young and old, I know has a real appreciation for a quality acoustic guitar, no matter what the style.