I just bought my first guitar last year (US$180). A used Yamaha steel string accoustic.
It had better tone than the cheaper new guitars. The only disadvantage to it is its hard for me to get good bends.
And there isn't a cut-out making "Summer Time" very difficult.
But if I ever get an electric my finger strength will be spot on. Besides the only thing worse than a bad guitar player, is an amplified bad guitar player. :-)

In summary, a good-ish used accoustic is great to learn on.
IMHO