You will be amazed once you get your first high quality knife. It will be unlike anything you have ever handled before. The good news is that you do not have to take out a loan to get a very good knife. Yes you can spend thousands on one knife if you wanted to, but you can also spend 1 or 2 hundred and get an excellent blade.
The latestt rend is Japanese knives. Look through the knife forum here and you will see many brand names to look at that are reasonable in price. My first foray into Japanese knives was a Tojiro. I do not recall how much I spent, but it was under $200. It was probably closer to the $100 side. I love the knife. It gets very sharp (I have sharpened it at 10 degrees on both sides) and it holds its edge much longer than my Wustof knives (which I do like for what they are).
Once we know more about you and what and how you cook then we will be able to give you more specific recommendations on both knives and cookware, if you want.