I'm a big fan of baitcast rigs, but I also think that spinning rigs have their place, too.
I bought my first one around when I was 10 or so, and I immediately became infuriated with it because I couldn't get the hang of it; I ended up giving up on it and went back to a spinning rig. A few years later, I decided to try again, but this time I read a few guides on them and was very careful about how I set it up; with just a little bit of practice, I had the hang of it pretty well and decided to purchase an Abu Garcia C3 which I've been using since then for most of my fishing.
If you take the 10 minutes to spool and adjust it properly, then you shouldn't have any trouble as long as you do a little bit of practice before heading out. I typically do a few casts off my back porch with just a sinker on the end of the line in order to get a general feel for any new reel and to determine what I need to adjust.