Anyone have any opinion on the new Canon EOS 60D and what lens I should get?

As a beginner, I suggest you to with the kit lens. Grand you that the kit lens is not best lens money can buy. However, it does offer the best balance between price, optical performance and versatility.

Once you master the skill and start to develop you own style and preference, you can always trade-in the kit lens for lens that are better suit your style.

As for blurring out the background, any mid to long range telephoto lens (i.e.: 85mm or longer) with a wide open aperture (i.e. f/2.8 or wider) can achieve this result without any problem. You can also achieve the similar result with a shorter lens (i.e. 50mm or less) with a correct composition.

The trick is to control the depth of field. The shallower the depth of field, the easier to blur out the background.

You'll need a bigger budget than $500 if you want everything. A macro lens on its own can be had for less than $500, e.g. links, but these are fixed focal length. Wide? How much wider? Sigma's 10-20mm is just over $500 Tele? How much? 300mm or 400mm? You'll struggle to get anything for $500. There's a Canon 70-300, linked, for just over $400. For 400mm you're at $900 and up, links And read any reviews on the lenses. The lower priced lenses are lower priced for a reason; they're a compromise on quality so you won't necessarily get great pictures over the whole zoom range.