I am one of those strange people who was able to teach themselves Maya and ZBrush.  It can be done, but it is not easy (admittedly, ZBrush was FAR easier to learn than Maya, but that's beside the point).  That being said, if you are a student (or an employee or affiliate of an educational institution) and would like to learn about 3D modeling, animation and/or video compositing Autodesk has a GREAT deal going on right now: For $200, you can get a 14-month educational license of Maya 2009.  But that's not all!  Act now (actually, I think this deal will be around for a while, so don't impulsively blow money) and you will also receive: Mudbox (a 3D digital sculpting program that is awesome), Toxik (a node-based compositing program that is awesome), Motion Builder (a 3D character animation program that is awesome) and Cleaner XL (which comes with Autodesk everything, whether you want it or not)!  If you weren't able to gather from this paragraph, this is awesome!  Several months ago, it would have cost me more than $300 just to upgrade to Maya 2008.  With the exception of Motion Builder, I have other software that will do much of what these other programs do.  This deal, however, might be too good to pass up.

My favorite place to get educational software is Torcomp.  You can find this deal on other sites such as Academic Superstore.  The license is a few dollars cheaper and a couple months longer at Torcomp/Studica...

http://www.torcomp.com/products/product_detail.cfm?productid=57961

If you're not a student, I'm not sure if there is a bundle like this.  I honestly haven't looked into it because I'm not yet really making money on any of this software so I have no need to have a full license.  Some day, though.  Some day...