Hi Carol, glad to hear your taking the plunge. Its always nice to hear the style and knowledge of the different players in here.
First off, I'm no authority on any of this, but my line of thinking leans towards choosing "anything" is a great first step. Which program {to me} really doesn't make a difference when starting out, they all have learning curves. There is the "basic" curve for anything new, then theres the curve for "that" particular program, and finally the curve of overall recording in general. I'm sure most who have a reasonable amount of time in the recording world, will admit that they have tried more than one program.
The main thing I believe, is to stick with whatever you choose to start with, until you have the first two "curves" down pat. By then you will have acquired a good general understanding of what goes into creating a good recording. Then it will be time to decide if you want to start over with something more in the way of a professional set-up. Some people make great recordings with the very basic free apps available, and are content. Others want to reach the next level and thats where the fun of experimenting with other programs come in. Just like guitars and music, everyone has their favorite.
For what its worth, my yamaha keyboard originally went from headphone jack out to line in on my PC, worked fine enough until I bought my powered mixer/pa system. I have only used audacity of the three mentioned in this thread, I'm now using adobe auditions which I love, but again the learning curve can be steep. I had no problems getting decent recordings from audacity and I'm sure the same would go for the others...just take your time, play with the one you choose and don't give up too early on it, lots of knowledge in here on just about any program you can think of. Best of luck to you in this new adventure...your gonna luv it.
