DirectX can seem pretty arcane if you have never worked with it before, moreso because DirectDraw has been gone since DirectX 8, and you should use Direct3D and just pretend you have a 2D world (but other parts have been simplified in 8 and 9). OpenGL would probably be easier; it can be more complicated to set up but once you've done that it's more intuitive than Direct3D for a beginner. I recommend using the glut library to make it as simple as possible, and of course the
NeHe tutorials are invaluable.