What PIC should I use?
Might as well put my 2 cents in.

Microchip has a part selector here: http://www.microchip.com/maps/microcontroller.aspx You can input all of the required items that you have and it will show you what will meet your requirements.

If you are wanting a PIC that is easier to learn with you shouldn't be worried about low pin count. Instead you should be looking at things like what compiler you will be using and what the package type is of the chip. If you are wanting to bread board, you should get a PIC in a through hole version. You can also get a development board with all of the required hardware built in.

I brought up considering you compiler because not all PIC series have good free or cheap C compilers. The PIC16F series has a very different architecture then the PIC18F. Because of this, several of the C compilers do not support the 16F series, leaving you to program in assembly or forking over some money. Also, since the architecture is different, it is harder to do something in assembly on them.

So, long story short, I would recommend going with a PIC18F series unless you have some strict requirements for 8 pins. The class that I help instruct has switched over to using 18F series only because of the reasons I listed.