Take a look at Are there disadvantages to a prosumer camera for a beginner, aside from cost?. Personally, I think (as you can see in my answer there) that there are enough significant advantages — especially given your expressed interest and background knowledge — that you should consider stretching your initial budget beyond that of an entry-level SLR.
I won't duplicate my answer there, but in short: going up a tier gives you more direct control and puts less emphasis on black-box features which aren't helpful for learning.
The Online Photographer has a somewhat tongue-in-cheek (but serious) article where Mike Johnston recommends a high-end camera and lenses to someone just starting out, and it's well worth reading (along with the followup, where Mike summarizes the whole thing as "Sometimes, economizing isn't."). I'm not sure I'd really go that far, but it's worth considering.
When I got my first DSLR, I decided to start at entry-level, and ended up selling it for a higher model in less than a year — an upgrade I've never regretted, except to wish I'd done it sooner. Someone has asked what your budget is, but I'll counter with a suggestion for what your budget should be. This isn't all initial investment, but a basic plan for the first two years.
- $1000 for the camera body, give or take a couple of hundred. This is basically the buy-in point for camera bodies with the level of control and mid-range features geared towards anyone serious about photography.
- $100 for memory cards, spare batteries, and etc.
- $400 for a decent prime lens or $800 for a basic constant-aperture zoom.
- $600-$1200 for additional lenses in the first two years. Don't plan out exactly what to get just yet, but have it in mind.
- $200 for a mid-range flash. Many beginners "know" that flash sucks, but the secret is that bad flash sucks and controlled light is awesome.
- $150 for a basic tripod — more if you're serious about landscape photography, but spending less than this is wasted money.
- $100 for cheap light modifiers and stands — you might skip this initially, but it's worth putting on the list. This number can easily go way, way up.
So that's about $2500 to $3500. Whew — I know, a lot more than the "Okay, I can spend $600 to get an on-sale entry-level DSLR and I'll be happy" that I started my thinking with. Remember, this isn't all up-front cost, but I think it's realistic. You can economize, stretch, or skimp on some parts of this list, but you'll be happier if you're in this ballpark. And remember, if you spend more now, the less likely you'll end up unhappily replacing things later. (I still use the then-expensive-for-me prime lens I bought with my first camera, three camera bodies later; if I'd gone with cheaper lenses, that probably wouldn't be the case.)
You can definitely do photography on a budget, and there's ways to make sensible decisions which avoid throwing cash away, but the fact is, this is an expensive hobby, and part of the secret to enjoying it is to get over the sticker shock and just accept that you're going to spend a certain bigger-than-it-seemed-at-first amount. This will let you move more quickly to not agonizing over differences in gear and get to the good part of taking pictures with equipment that allows you to concentrate on photography.
Make sure to think about the total price of the camera and a few basic lenses. If you do have to compromise somewhere, it's totally respectable to disregard my suggestions above and to get a cheaper camera body and sink your real money into lenses. Don't buy every lens you think you might want, because you really have to get shooting with a system before you know what you need, but take it into consideration in your budgeting — particularly if you have certain interests which might suggest a particular sort of lens (for portrait photography, macro, or street photography, for example). However, if you go the lenses-over-body route, realize that you're probably making a plan involving replacing the body more quickly than you would with a mid-range camera body, so the total savings might be small or even negative.
I don't think Stack Exchange lends itself well to specific brand/model recommendations for cameras — they change too fast and are too prone to brand wars. With that caveat, I'll throw out the Pentax K-5 and Nikon D7000 as where I'd be looking were I starting now. These cameras are above entry-level price, but have very good features for direct control — and they feature modern sensors offering amazing image quality. (And they fit your wishlists reasonably well.) But first, take a look at How much do lens lineups vary across DSLR platforms?, because the different systems do have some differences which it's good to understand going in.
You may also consider a mirrorless camera — one of the new systems emerging in the marketplace. Personally, though, I think the optical viewfinders (another reason to go up from entry-level, by the way) are enough ahead of current electronic viewfinder technology that a DSLR is still the way to go — unless the size and unique modern flavor of such a system has a particular appeal to you, in which case I say go for it and make it part of your style.
