Don't get me wrong; the kit lenses, even though they're cheap zooms, will work. Any lens is better than no lens at all. All my best photos were actually made with that EF 35-80mm f4.0-5.6 III zoom. It's just that all along, I've known that it wasn't as good as it could be, nowhere near. However, I had it on hand and decided to get other lenses outside that range first. Any lens is better than no lens.
Ideally, you should spend most of your money on glass, becuase the body isn't as important. However, by getting a camera with an incorporated lens, you lose the ability to ever get better optics, without buying an entirely new system. Cost-benefit analysis is in order.
If you're seriously interested in photography, then a decent film SLR body, even if you have to use the kit lens (though you should try to get better optics as soon as you can afford to) will do you good. Plus, as someone is bound to point out soon, it's going to cost a lot more to take 1000 pictures on film than it will to take 10,000 pictures with Digital.
Let this not become a film vs. digital debate (Lord knows we've enough of those elsewhere), but the higher cost of learning will cause you to learn more quickly, or go broke. You'll think more carefully before pressing that shutter, and examine your images more closely. It's true that there's no instant feedback, but that teaches note-taking, which is also useful.
To be fair to Digital (though I don't like it myself, partly on principle, partly sour grapes), you do get instant feedback and it can record the notes for you (I think), and you can try several compositions and settings before dumping the trash. You can elect to print only those images you really like. There's no scanning process to introduce color, contrast, and luminosity variations, or dust, or scratches, or any number of other (completely avoidable!) horrors of film photography.
In short, it's much more convenient, and less room for damage (unless you drop the expensive camera and break it, or happen to misplace that itty-bitty gigabyte flash card).
Your best bet, if you're serious about learning photography, is a camera (any camera) with interchangeable (preferrably prime) lenses and manual exposure settings. Whether that's a film SLR, Digital SLR, Hasselblad, 1920s vintage roll-film folder, or 8X10 monorail view camera, is largely irrelevant. (just kidding on the 8X10... everything about it is likely to cost you an arm and a leg--but the quality is unbeatable).
So, if it comes down to it, get the Digital Rebel with the kit lens, and gradually upgrade to better optics as you are able. Or go the film route and do the same. But by all means, manual exposure and interchangeable lenses--but most especially manual exposure.