Maaco paint job?

The vinyl top no doubt has rust under that and needs work. Lots of prep work to get a decent job. The end result will be only as good as your prep. You can do a decent job IF you mask everything off arefully with the correct 3m tape. The big time expensive shops will pull everything off, YOU are not trying for a $100,000 resto job!
You an do a decent job without the highest costs materials, YOU said you need something to get you past HS and into the world right. I would suggest a second line of ppg etc in acrylic urethane single sate. It will not tend to have the shine of bc/ but will be plenty durable and yes you can wet sand/buff it if you apply enough materials. Decent epoxy primer from PPG or Southern Urethanes.
You can do decent work with a $45 gravity gun with some practice. Be aware you need a compressor that will keep constant pressure and water/oil trap. Be careful with these materials they can klll you.
There are lots of threads on the body site here on how to do body/paint work.