For your first class I would suggest mage or necro. They are both fairly forgiving and pretty fun to play also. Be fully prepared to change your mind and start a different char after the first week or two. I think when I first started I had 3 chars lvl 10+ in the first few weeks. At lvl 10 you don't get the full feel for a class but a general idea which can help you decide where you want to put most of your time.
Just to reiterate, melee chars are more gear dependent than casters (just because casters squish with or without gear and spell dmg isn't affected by gear). There are a number of things that sell well to players that you can get at low levels (bone chips, spiderling silk, crushbone belts etc) so you can get some decent stuff if you save some of those as you level and sell to players. Take a look at the guides on the site for more ideas and you should be fine for money for starting gear.
Most of all enjoy the climb, one of the best parts of eq is leveling up and doing quests along the way. Raiding is fun for sure but a good crawl through a dungeon with a group can be just as fun :-)
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