Method for secure login/encrypted session and redirect based on login credentials?

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
Hi guys, newb here. I fancy myself somewhat of a decent designer, but I have very little server-side experience and I'm hoping someone here might point me in the right direction.

I have a graphic design portfolio site that is 90% finished on the front-end, and I am hoping to add a functionality that would allow a client to login from the front page to create an SSL session (maybe?) which would then redirect him to a user specific (static) page containing design proofs, account balance, etc.

I know one of the best approaches to this is of course Drupal, and I have been doing some tuts since the release of 7, but I'm afraid the learning curve is still a bit steep and it may be some time before I have my head around the system enough to do with it what I want to do. Besides, like I mentioned, the site is 90% done and I don't want to have to start from scratch.

One person I spoke to suggested I look into this framework, so that is what I'm doing now. Does anyone know of a plugin or script which handles what I am looking for, and would it be something that I, a guy who only knows xhtml & css, would be able to figure out how to implement? Keep in mind, I am very keen on getting my feet wet with back-end stuff and am prepared to start learning php in tandem with Drupal, so I may be up to the challenge if it's only a little bit outside of the scope of my knowledge.

Thanks for reading.

EDIT: someone just referred me to a product called aMember Pro which seems very promising, but it costs $180 and I am hoping to find something a little more affordable if possible.