Hello,
I'm in the preliminary planning process of a trip to Machu Picchu....
How should I start? I'd like to do this on a budget or middle of the road itinerary...
We'll be coming from Boston, just 2 of us, but in our early 20's we don't have a ton of money to spend..
Any help would be appreciated!

-Where would we want to fly into?
-Is it cheapest to purchase packages for traveling there? Or to book it separately ourselves?
-Lodging options?
-How do you even get to Machu Picchu?! Thank you so much!

A good guidebook would answer some of those basic questions for you at this point. I'll put in a plug for Fodor's guide to Peru since this is their site. (I also worked on that book.)

Your international flight will arrive at Lima (LIM), where you connect to a domestic flight to Cusco (CUZ). From there, it's about 3.5 hours on the train to the small town of Aguas Calientes. From AC, a shuttle bus takes you to the ruins themselves, about 20 minutes away.

You can do a day trip to MP, train there and back. You can stay overnight too. Going budget or moderate would put you in Aguas Calientes.

Many people think they can only take the train to MP (Aguas Calientes) from Cusco. There are many more trains from Ollantaytambo.

Suggest you read through some of the Peru Trip Reports if you aren't going to buy a guide book.

For newbies

www.peruforless.com

www.pmexplorers.com

www.kuodatours.com

best based on budget

usually works out cheaper than DIY

especially if one has not a clue...

www.gotmyfare.com cheap packages with air also.

Since you live in Boston, you are probably familiar with Grand Circle Travel and their sister company OAT. THey offer a good return for the money and OAT's Peru/Machu Picchu trip is very reasonable. We did it 2 years ago and loved every minute of it. We also did the optional extension to Lake Titicaca and were so glad we did!
I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules by saying this and I'm not trying to sell you anything but, when you book for the first time and tell them you were referred by one of their customers (in this case Me), you get a small discount and we get a small credit towards a future trip. If interested, contac me and I'll give you my customer number to use.

Do you want to hike? Or take the train? There are 4 day Inca Trail trips, 1 Day hiking trips, and train all the way. This would be what you should consider first. Otherwise, it's Lima, then Lima to Cusco by plane.