many people swear by adobe premiere pro, but i found that unless you have liek a supercomputer (or just a new one i guess...) encoding the video takes HOURS. (literally, i have a 2.4ghz p4 w/ 1.5gb ram and it said 11 hours to encode a 2 minute video...). it's also ridiculously expensive.
i HIGHLY recommend Corel VideoStudio Pro X2. (Used to be Ulead VideoStudio Pro X2). It is very very simple to use (i was able to learn how to use even the "advanced" functions within 10 minutes of playing around) and it has the flexibility of an advanced editor (such as layered audio, video-in-video, transitions, overlays, etc). also, the program is ridiculously fast for a video editing program. i was able to 1) import 2gb worth of raw video on my computer (same specs as above) OVER LOGMEIN (remote access over internet, so computer was taxed already w/ online remote control), and then exporting a 15 minute video took only about 20-30 minutes at reasonable quality. it also has support for blu-ray and other hd formats, so id strongly suggest it. price is also very cheap for such a great program, and as always, the internet shall always "have it for cheaper" (as mentioned before hehe...)