Illustrator isn’t newbie friendly, but neither is Inkscape. Both require some time invested to learn the software, but once you do, they do the job well. Illustrator is easier for a power-user. If you plan to stick with designing for laser long term, I’d stick with Illustrator. (Worst thing you can do as a newbie is to switch back and forth between the two, so pick one, and learn to use that one.)
We have many tutorials for using either program, and some that will make it easier to learn to use both, so some light reading that might help you along: