Hello and welcome to the forum
Honestly, the Virus C is a piece of cake to program. To begin with every parameter u need to make traditional analog sounds are accesible via the front panel knob's and buttons. Your need for menue work will be absolutely minimal. As you become more proficient and your desire to really experiment takes over.....the edit menues will alow u to really get underneath the bonnet.
I think from a pure programming & playing point of view the KC is currenlty the. If you need to save a little money....then the desktop + midi controller would be a great option. But I'd stay clear of any rack versions.....since u want to 'get into' the programming process.
Like you matt, im not too interested in song writing (my moment of fame will come after university!)....but im a total bloody synth nerd/geek....what ever u want to call it...its me! Im so into programming that I live and breath frequencies. The Virus is a good all rounder of a synth.....and within a year of owning one....and keeping in touch with the likes of HC, Juho, and me and everyone here!!!! you'll become proficient pretty quickly.
You'll have no problems......we are a very friendly/inbred bunch of people here lol
DS