Elements 5 will do everything you'll need and, if you look around, it can be had for under $50. Add the latest Adobe RAW Converter and you've got about all you need. I've an older version of Photoshop but I never use it anymore.
As for combining images to get HDR (high dynamic range) Photomatix does a great job and is very intuitive.
There are many great noise reduction applications, some freeware and others shareware. Noise Ninja is among the best. Noiseware Community Edition is free and very good.
For panos try Autostitch, the easist and one of the best there is.
If you'd like to try some perspective correction download ShiftN, a nifty little freeware application. It easily corrects architectural lens distortions, etc.
As you can see, I like freeware whenever possible. If it's a great application I'll donate.
As for RAW, I'll bet you'll be shooting RAW exclusively very soon. You just have so much more flexibility over jpeg. Unless I'm shooting quick family photos I stay with RAW.
Hope this helps, arkiedan
