Thinking of playing dilemma

I apologize that this is one of those rhetorical questions that ultimately I answer. Just on my mind and I've been reading here so figured I would ask.
I currently do not play Wh40k or for that matter any table too game. It does seem like fun however, and I've seen a fair share of battle reports and also read strategies. I'm under the mind set of just starting out small with a 500 pt list for a few short reasons like; not getting overwhelmed with painting a whole army, a much smaller cost foot print, and lastly being able to understand and learn the rules in smaller style skirmish games. Heck my wife, sweet heart she is, was even going to play along and get an elder army so we could play.
With that said, this is a community game. Some people do just collect and paint the models which is fine, but I would rather play. I stopped by the local game store that is a games workshop vendor, and does support space to play and spoke to the only player that was currently there. He was busy so I didn't want to barrage him with questions, but he informed me the shop standard was 1,999 pt games. I do plan on stopping back with the updated times to watch and after a game is over ask some questions if they are willing.
With that all said, with having no investment currently in the game besides time spend on research, I really can't see me dive into 6 months of painting and effectively a car payment to play if they don't do lower point games. I'm not trying to berate them, if I had a large army list and so did the general majority that have all grown together over the years it would be fine.
Yeah I kind of rambled on. Thank you for any insights if anyone had similar circumstances. Also hope I posted this in the right section.

Well I personally am starting out building small, and using Vassal Games with my buddies to help learn the army and plans. Vassal is a free program that allows you to have games without needing to pant or build them.

I can't speak for the store(s) in your area. My FLGS hosts events ranging from as small as 500 to as large as 2,500 on a regular basis. They also have an open game night wherein players show up and pretty much you can get in any game size that you want.

I will agree that as far as organized play goes Europe seems to favor smaller games (1500 or so) whereas the US tends bigger (1850-2000 appearing more the norm).

I'd try to find a staff person at the store and/or check their website to see what type of play options they offer and when. I'm pretty confident you ought to be able to locate people looking to play smaller games.

My personal opinion, as a 43yr old gamer who has been playing 40K for 8 years: Don't start.

I think the game is very badly supported at the moment, that the power imbalances due to GW recent releases mean that a lot of pick-up games with strangers will be nasty and not fun, and unless you have a bunch of mates who agree on a given power level, that won't change.
The models have got so expensive, the points cost has dropped so now you need more models to play, and a lot of your favourite models will be swept off the table before they get a chance to do their signature trick by a stupidly overpowered mega unit.

Malifaux, an excellent skirmish game for 5-10 models per player, has just had a re-launch, with gorgeous models.
X-Wing is an incredibly simple yet engaging dogfight game with Star Wars ships, which come pre-painted.
Flames Of War is a similar sized game to 40K, but with much better army balance, and a company that cares about its customers.

Right now, if it wasn't for the fact that I have paid for and am awaiting 60+ new models for my DE army, I would have packed away all my 40K. Most of my gaming buddies are of the same mindset, even the guy with Chaos tattoos, a 20 year veteran.

Just my opinion, but it's not a good game to get into at the moment.

Playing devils advocate to CommanderSasha I think it depends a lot on the local scene.

Having picked the game up 6 months or so ago after having played in the mid 90's I was very lucky to find a local gaming group where almost everyone adheres to the local Tournament rules in there own lists e.g. limited to 2 flyers (2 in total not 2 squadrons), among various other limitations, they are friendly, pushing the hobby forward themselves and operate mostly independently of the GW silly stuff whilst hosting the occasional Apoc style tournament for those that want to go big.

I think you should keep on investigating your local shop and have a search for others, I don't know where you're based but I think there are usually more gaming groups in most areas than at first glance.

Then if you are comfortable with how they operate go for it.

Advocate aside, everything CommanderSasha said is extremely good sense. And Malifaux is awesome.

Awesome I say!