Reply to controller for production??

ok, firstly let me start by saying i was a bit confused over which section to post this in as its about controllers and production, so mods please move if necessary.

i want to get into production and im looking for something that's simple to use and work my way around.

my budget is not very high and im looking at getting a launchpad as it comes with ableton and would work straight out of the box, (which is a big perk as it would really keep the cost down) how simple is ableton to pick up? i have a few friends that produce and some reccomend ableton and some say cubase.

so what are your thaughts, do i go with a launchpad together with something like a nanokontrol and use ableton, or go down the keyboard route and use maybe cubase? any thoughts are greatly appreciated.