STi hard to drive?

Is the STi hard to get use to if its your first car thats manual? Is it worth spending the extra money to get the STi over the regular WRX? Is it easy to fuck up and mess up your transmission and car? Basically I'm asking if driving a manual STi is difficult, especially if you plan to street race.

DO NOT street race in an STi unless you are extremely experienced and can react extremely quickly at high speeds - meaning you would have to be very comfortable with manual. In fact, I wouldn't street race ever, seeing as how you are just gonna get your car impounded and/or yourself arrested. I'm 17, and I'm just gonna get the WRX and take it easy, slowly gaining experience and learning how to control the car. THEN maybe I'll go down to the drag strip and race.