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Welcome to the forum. I'm going to shy away from recommending a specific firearm just yet. I will tell you the purchasing criteria you've listed are a good start. More important than picking a firearm, IMHO, is to find someone near you offering competent training.

When I read your post a couple days ago, you mentioned that you'd looked into clubs and instructors but no one was near you. Then I saw Galveston County and was just about floored. As mentioned, you really couldn't be in a better spot. SeamusTX already gave you one of the first names that would have come to mind in Galveston County and you can't go wrong by joining PSC either. I keep meaning to do that myself but the job keeps me away.

ELB posted a great reference to John Farnam. Not cheaper by any stretch but certainly local, there is also Brian Hoffner. (http://www.hoffners.com) Brian is a 25-year veteran of a large local agency, an experienced and nationally recognized trainer as well as a friend and former student of John Farnam. I've trained in both their programs and highly recommend attending training for both if you can afford it. While the fundamentals are the same, there significant differences in the programs. IMHO, the differences are worth exploring so that you can come to your own conclusions.

My next recommendation is use the search function on this board. You may find yourself suffering from information overload because there are some well versed, well trained and thoroughly experienced instructors/shooters providing a great deal of content on this forum. There are even a few people who have at some point in their lives been professional gunmen in law enforcment, military and/or personal protection capacities. They won't go out of their way to tell you who they are or what they do but, you'll figure it out as you read their posts.

Buying a .22 with which to practice fundamental marksmanship is highly recommended. Another option might be to buy a .22 conversion kit (if available) once you've chosen a handgun. My personal method skips that expense in favor of a lot of dry-fire practice that is supplemented with live-fire application. A long time ago, I learned a trick from an IPSC GrandMaster that uses masking tape, a pencil and a Post-It. Without getting too detailed here, the pencil becomes your "bullet" and the mark it makes on paper relative to a calibrated point of impact can be used to highlight problems without firing a live round.

Another option is Airsoft pistols used on paper targets. Many airsoft pistols now operate in a manner identical to their lead firing counterparts and fit in the same holsters. The 6mm BBs are reusable and so is the gas relatively speaking. You can shoot indoors and the cost of a quality airsoft pistol is usually a little cheaper than that of even a basic .22 caliber pistol. It's just a thought. With FX and other paint based systems being prohibitively expensive, many trainers are turning to airsoft as a tool for force on force training which is the only practical way to simulate the dynamics of a gunfight.