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You can not learn the Tai-Chi Ch'uan from a book or DVD, you must learn from a live person, a person who has fully developed the relaxation skill and the forms, and recognized by local Tai-Chi senior practitioners.

The reasons are:
1. If you learn from a book or DVD, most likely you'll be seeing yourself from the old habit of yours, you are coming from the realm of "unknown" and try to transition to the "known" by yourself, it’s very difficult. You are most likely to build up bad habit along the training. Once the habit is formed, it will be hard to get rid of it, you may have repeated the same mistake for a thousand times before even realize the problem. It's like planting a tree, the root gets deeper and deeper every day, by the time you realize the soil and climate are no good for the tree to grow, it will be too late to relocate it. It's also like study the piano lesson, the nerve and muscle controls are extremely critical, you know how important it is to get it right at the first time.

 2. Tai-Chi is really an art; it has lots of internal adjustments, reforms and alignments. It leads by the mind, by concentration and relaxation. You need some one to correct you during the training, some one who has achieved the true relaxation state and be able to help you in the process.

3. Another reason you need to join a group is to overcome your laziness, you will soon be bored if you practice all by yourself, you need some one to watch your back, to compare (compete) with, to stimulate your thought and idea and to give you the motivation to move forward.

How to find a local tai-chi group....
From local community center or parks. Tai-Chi is getting more popular now, going to the park early in the morning, look for people with "slow motion" exercise, talk to them and ask them questions, they might hold the answer for you to get started.

Search on the internet. This powerful tool wasn't available until recent years, take this advantage of time and search the information electronically. The internet is loaded with information; you can learn a whole bunch by browsing through the related topics. 

 How to find a teacher and evaluate his skill....
No two teachers are alike and no two forms are alike, that's how I see the Tai-Chi Ch'uan world wide. But the theory and principle are the same, the concept of song (鬆- relaxation) and anchor three feet down to the ground are the same, the expansion and contraction of movement (yin-yang) are the same, the energy flow and its trajectory are the same.
I'll evaluate the teacher by his background -- who he learned from, how long has he been practice, how he merges the Tai-Chi into life, and most importantly, listen to what he says about the Song (鬆), about the energy flow and its Root (anchor).

Which form is best for you? Young-style, Chen-style, Wu-style, Sun-style...Jao-Bow Tai-chi.
I encourage people to start with Young style, why? Because it's the most popular and common forms available, you will find a great deal of people practice Young style. And, Young has it's unique signature of beauty and peacefulness, very relaxing, doesn't emphasize on the explosive energy (Fa-Jin 發勁), that make it easier to build up the skill of relaxation, and you will see the immediate result with the improvement of your health.

Of course, it's also based on what kind of resources are available around you.

I have many years of Young style experience before moved on to Chen style, I call Chen is the most versatile style, involved with a lot of Fa-Jins' (explosive energy) and spiral motions. If this is the first Tai-Chi Ch'uan you have come acrossed and is the only one available to you, I'll encourage you to concentrate on the Song (relaxation) first, concentrate on the continuous flow of energy, and the continuous flow between the figures, wait till you built up the relaxation skill then gradually bring the Fa-Jin into the forms.

All tai-Chi Ch'uans are based on the same principle and philosophy, if you have very limited choice from local, go with the one that's available to you and closer to where you live. Relaxation and consistency are the keys to achieve your goal, once you have the foundation established, it will be easier for you to migrate to different style.