I am looking for a fairly simple game to ease me into the world of turn base strategy. I don't want alot of complicated micro management and confusing resource gathering. Is this a simple way to start the genre? Thanks

Yea these games can be played by anyone. They are pretty easy to figure out and they have Easy AI to get you started(well at least the 3rd one does).

Yeah, I meant HoMM 3, sorry

Yeah it's very easy to figure out, and you can get a good bit better at it without a lot of reading. Most things become obvious pretty quickly.
Plus the random map generator gives you a lot of freedom to set up the game just the way you like it, so you don't get bored or frustrated too easily.

I'd say that it most certainly is - even when I was younger I found it extremely easy to get into the game and I have always, always hated micro-mangement.. heck, I loved the idea of the Civilization games but I could only really handle the made for console CivRev.

As everyone else has said, this is a great introduction to turn-based gaming.
If you like it, or even if you don't but want to try some other turn-based games, I would strongly recommend looking into a few other turn-based games:
* Battle for Wesnoth (freeware)
* Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business or UFO:Aftermath (GOG)
* Civilization 4 (often on sale in Steam or D2D)
If you like HoMM, there are a few games which have are similar in style. These include the "Disciples" series (also available on GOG), the Warlords series (but not Battlecry), and the much newer franchise of Kings Bounty (GOG, hooray!).
If you like JA or UFO, the other Jagged Alliance and the earlier UFO games have a lot more strategy and management options.
If you like Wesnoth and Civ 4, there are umpteen mods and campaigns just for those two games, plus there's a whole world of strategy combat games with similar mechanics.