If you want to start on 8051 micro. then the most costeffective thing will be to get a AT89SXX ( available for about Rs.150. in bangalore and bombay) and use Atmelisp available freely on the net ( or on elektor website) all you need with this is RS232 level conversion and you can download and run your programs from any windows pc.
Elektor published a project called Atmel flash board ( using At89S8252, you can use any AT89SXX micro for this board.) This was a simple project, but it should be sufficient for control applications and other beginer stuff.
vinod