I'm learning simplified. It seems to me that unless you have a specific reason to learn traditional (for example, you want to live in Taiwan, or you are interested in calligraphy), simplified is more widely used, easier to learn, and there are more resources available for language learners.

But honestly either's fine. If I decide to learn traditional later on, given that I already know simplified I'll be able to pick up quickly. I'm sure that people who learn traditional first could quickly learn simplified, too. 

Essentially: it's a matter of personal preference/depends on an individual's situation and goals.

I'm probably going to get brickbats for saying this, but for a start just learn the simplified version first. Once you get the hang of the grammatical structure of Chinese, you can start looking up the traditional ones on your own. Personally, I'm comfortable with either, and given time, you'll be able to have a go with the Japanese kanji as well (they use a combination of Traditional and Simplified, as well as their own unique characters).

There is no significant advantage of learning the traditional ones first, and it would probably be slower at first. You probably would reach an average of several hundred characters in about a year (based on my experience).

Good luck~

From a purely neutral opinion, simplified Chinese is the way to go simply because more teachers use it!

I don't really mind either so when I look up a character in the dictionary, I look at both simplified and traditional.