T7i
The high school where I advise the yearbook has pretty much standardized on the T7i.
I got them to upgrade to the T7i, from the T3 and T5.
The T7i has much better low light performance than the T5, which has made it a LOT easier for them to shoot night and gym games, which were a struggle with the T3 and T5.
Firmware is user updated, so I would not worry about what version is installed on the camera. Just update it to the current version.
As for lenses, I have always been adverse to kits.
I believe in looking at the available lenses and determining which one(s) fits my needs best, and going with that.
Example, for the yearbook's T7i, I advised the yearbook advisor to buy the T7i with the 18-135 lens, rather than 18-55 + 55-200 kit. That has proven to be a good decision. The 18-135 has been able to shoot 90% of what they want to shoot. So no hassles with carrying a 2nd long lens and changing lenses in the field.
Our secondary lenses are the Sigma/Tamron 17-50/2.8 for the gym sports and Canon 70-300 for longer shots at daytime outdoor sports. Again lenses picked specifically for the task, from what is available, and kept within a budget.
We have a Sigma 80-200/2.8 for low light, but since getting the T7i, the kids have been avoiding the heavy Sigma lens. And I don't blame them, as I use a 70-200/4 because it is half the weight of the f/2.8 lens.
Having said that, if the kit 18-55 and 55-200 work for you, then go with that.
Again, you have to think about which gear works for YOU, not what the marketing guys packaged into a kit, or what someone else uses.
One BIG caution on these kits. Both Canon and Nikon 2-lens kits usually have the 2nd lens as a 55-200 or 70-300 but WITHOUT Image Stabilization (IS). This make the lens cheaper, and thus the kit price lower. But the lens is less useful, because now YOU have to stabilize the lens, and it is harder to use than a stabilized lens. Today, I would NOT buy a non-stabilized long lens for a dSLR, as the dSLR does not have In-Body Image Stabilization.
re Refurbishes.
READ and STUDY the listing very very carefully, to look for any mention of refurbished.
And if there is any mention, make sure it says CANON refurbished, not "seller refurbished." The problem is, you have no idea what the seller did to refurbish the gear; did they just wipe down the gear to make it look nice, and NOT do any testing?
In the case of Canon refurb being more expensive than online new, I would go with online new.
But ONLY if is NOT a grey market item. I do not know about Canon, but Nikon USA does NOT warranty grey market gear. In fact they will NOT even service grey market gear, even if you offered to pay them for the repair.
It has to be "Canon factory components" cuz the camera and lens are Canon. But is it grey market or not? And is it refurb or not? The devil is in the details of the listing.
The old saying is still true, "if it looks too good to be true, it likely is (bad)."