Jim is great, and there are other PC DAW builders. That is the best, safest route. Also the most expensive, but not in time because Jim etc. install your software/hardware and make sure everything is running together.
If you are competent with hard/software, you can buy and off-he-shelf HP etc Desktop and throw in a 2nd hard drive and 2-fer video card and be set for a computer. And today, a lot of software practically installs itself (see SONAR/NI) and interfaces are pretty easy.