I'll agree with Guitarhacker on a few things.
Get a dedicated audio interface and a condenser mic. Not a USB microphone.
But, I use an audio interface that also has 5 pin midi in and out. This lets me easily connect some midi equipment without sacrifice another USB port on my laptop.
There are decent large diaphragm condenser mics in the $100 range. Can't think of them right now though.
There are a lot of decent amp emulators like Line 6 Pod, Zoom G series and many others. Many for very decent prices. I saw a used Line 6 Pod 2.0 on craigslist for $50 recently. I had one of these years ago and even back then it was quite decent. Plus you can record an electric guitar dry/direct into an interface and use software amp emulation. Many decent ones are free to at least get you started.
I tend to use a mic in front of an combo amp myself. But, I usually know what sound I'm going for, I have a few amps and several different styles on guitars to achieve that. I do record a dry (or minimally compressed) signal at the same time just in case but I rarely end up using the dry tracks. That's just me.
The free Cakewalk by Bandlab is fantastic. I use the SI Instruments that come with it quite often but I use them inside of Reaper.
Reaper is free for trial but paying the $60 for it is a vert kind thing to do and also means you are a stellar citizen.
Reaper comes with many great plugins.
For pitch correction I have used Reapers' included free ReaPitch or Reatune, and the free MAutoPitch from MeldaProduction to decent results but I start with vocalist that rarely require much correction if any at all. More often I use it on background vocals or on a single track vocal that I am going to use to create Helicon harmonies off of.
Helicon harmony creator gadget came included with BIAB / PowerTrack package I purchased several years ago.
I unplug/disconnect from internet with using DAW and I installed GWX Contol Panel gadget that prevents my Windows 8.1 from updating to Windows 10. W10 is probably advanced enough since it first came out that it might not be a problem but I see no reason to change from W8.1 unless I don't know what I'm missing.
Monitors can get expensive. To get going and have fun I started out with a 3 piece set, subwoofer and 2 desk top speakers by Acoustic Authority I found on sale for $40 at Staples years ago. Still connected to my DAW and still working fine. Now I have several other monitor set ups in the same room.
Lava lamps and salt lamps are not all that necessary but apparently some swear by them.

Does the noise in your head bother me ?