Get yourself an inexpensive electric guitar. Yamaha, Squire, Danelectro, Epiphone, Ibanez to name a few, all have ok new guitars for under 200 bucks. Or look for a used one that's not ready for the wood pile. If you do get one, have someone who knows what they're doing set it up for you. I would suggest low action and extra light strings (.009-.042). Also make sure the intonation is right. One more thing. You will need to get an amplifier! There are few things that are more useless than a electric guitar that you can't hear.
Learning to play lead guitar also depends on how ambitious you are. Most lead players I know (myself included) are usually pretty ambitious people and all of them have some sort of ego. So get a good cheap axe, an amp, an ego and your on your way. Good luck.