Get the biggest cutting mat you can fit in your space and afford and a good rotary cutter. You can do it with scissors like in the old days but your accuracy and speed will be much better much sooner with the rotary cutter. Good scissors are still a necessity too. It can be a little expensive if you're starting from scratch but once you're set up it's not bad. Then most of your costs are just fabric and thread.
If you're on a tight budget and don't have a machine yet consider a vintage machine. They can be had pretty cheaply and you can construct an entire quilt with nothing more than a straight stitch. I love old machines and spend most of my time in the vintage section. If you ask about old machines there you'll get more advice than you can read.
I hope this helps, others will be along with a lot more info soon I'm sure.
Rodney