Need to learn Debian from the ground up.

That's bit of a mouthfull I'd say.

Debian is not the easiest of distributions to start off with although if you survive the initial, quite steep learning curve you'll never look back

There are many tutorials for people just setting out to learn Linux.
A couple of decent ones are here:
http://www.linux.org/lessons/beginner/toc.html
http://www.roseindia.net/linux/tutorial/

One very good idea would be to get a solid book about system administration on Linux that's fairly easy to read. "Linux System Administration: A Users Guide" helped me immensely simply by tying up alot of loose ends. It is also written in a relaxed and informal tone so it's an enjoyable read and you'll understand most of the concepts.

You can get this book at Amazon; a link:
http://www.amazon.com/Linux-System-Administration-Users-Guide/dp/0201719347/ref=pd_bbs_sr_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215614276&sr=8-12

As for getting Debian. You can install it in many ways. Two of the most popular ways is to either download a full cd image with most of the common apps on it or a barebones cd image with only the most essential things on it and then add apps from the internet as needed.

You can pick either on Debian's website:
http://www.debian.org/distrib/

The installation manual:
http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/

It may look like quite a mouthful to read but it really is worth the effort because Linux requires some skill to operate. So the more you cram into your brain about how to operate Linux the better.

Now a few tips.
When using Linux don't try to understand everything at once.
Concentrate on one task at a time.
Everything on a Linux system is treated as a file. Even devices!
Everything on Linux is case sensitive. Meaning the file foo.txt is not the same file as Foo.txt (this is important to remember).
The Linux commandline is similar to DOS although it is soo much more powerful.
Config files go in /etc.
If you need to use a command and you're not sure about how it works then use man like so: man commandname. This brings up the manual for the command you're trying to use. You can also google for a tutorial on how to use said command.
Google is your friend. If you're stuck with something chances are that someone has had the exact same problem. And you usually find either a forum discussion or a tutorial on how to solve your problem if you know how to google for it.
Always bear in mind that Linux is completely different from Windows. Most things are done differently on Linux.
File permissions are a big deal in Linux. Read up on the commands CHOWN and CHMOD.
When stuck don't be afraid to ask someone for a little help. Having a mentor will save you oodles of time.

That's it for now. I'll try to answer any questions you might have if you stick them into this post.