yes, i felt the same way when i started, Maya is a really good program and extremely flexible. however, it has a very steep learning curve. once you pick up the basic of it, it is actually vey user-friendly. i have a couple suggestions for you to get started.
If you have a copy of Maya (i don't want to know where and how you get it). if you press F1. it will take you to the Maya online help file. there's some really good tutorials there. i learn most of my stuff there.
2). take a look at some of the website out there like
www.highend3d.com etc... they usually have some good tutorials too.
3). if you goto the Maya website, they offer some useful tutorials too, and you can download a tutorial package which is quite handy.
Don't aim high, start creating simple static items like Mug, table, chair. once you are more familiar with other tools. then start to create some challenging stuff like a ergnomic chair, alarm clock, desklamp etc.......
The beauty of Maya is it's simplicity. thats why it makes it so complicated.
ahdont