Transmission controller wise microsquirt from DIYAutotune offers a great amount of support with room to grow if you decide you want fuel injection, boost/nitrious, staging options, or just paddle shifters later.
Hardware wise its plug and play(almost you need tach, tps at a minimum). But the tuning potential with a microsquirt alone is impressive. Add a megasquirt 2 or 3 later to control the engine and you can do all kinds of fun things tuning wise.
I am a fan of going back and reviewing the heck out of the numbers looking for losses or to notice I may be running towards the limits of a sensors range before I actually do.
Sloppymechanics wiki has tons of tech, diyautotune has more, then your going to cut your teeth and learn even more when you get some first hand experience. You may have a few "I am an idiot what am I doing wrong" moments. But its usually something basic and once you get your first tune saved(rough tunes can be downloaded to get you started) your going to find just how easy it is.
If you do mess something up you can always go back to your previous tune. You never stop learning and by going back and reviewing you can tune for the surface.
You can also run a "hi officer" or cam friendly street tune then easily switch for 60ft, 1/8, 1/4, or "watch this" tune.
Once again going back and reviewing to see where things can be improved.
Oh and there are a few different 4l80 transmissions so controller wise look at what best transmission fits your needs. You can make anything "work". But some are better then others depending on your needs.