Soo I have saved up about $1,000 to spend on a good recording system. I will be recording at my house via my PC (Dell dimension 9150 with a Intel Q965 chipset).

Having been told Pro Tools was the best, I was about to buy a digidesign 002 rack, but I have heard that PC's usually have trouble with the 002 rack. Plus I have already spent hours trying to determine if my system is compatible.

I was wondering if I could get some help deciding the best system to get. Maybe an MBox 2 Pro, or a Presonus Firepod, or some other interface. Any suggestions? And what about recording systems Cubase, Sonar, or Pro Tools?
Any help would be greatly appreciated...

I use a firepod - It's great IMO. It comes with Cubase LE which is a good introduction......... no complaints

for serious recording, you could most likely find a used MOTU interface for cheap on ebay, or at a pawn shop, or even for sale at your local guitar center. the 2408 MK2 and MK3 are very, very nice (8ins, 8outs analog), plus 24 digital ins and outs. aside from that, myself i have the M-Audio FW1814, which does a very nice job.

and for the daw, well, i suggest you try for yourself and find which best suits your needs and stuff, because not a single person enjoys a daw the same way the next person does, there's plenty of ways to find free or demo versions of many daw's, so google it out. cheers