Let me give a suggestion...by all means not THE SOLUTION, but there is no right answer. You have 3 choices. And the main choice is not which camera to buy, but what type you should get and the lifestyle you want to lead with your camera.
Point and shoot is not a bad way to go. There are some nice ones under $1000 that even pros use. They are compact, require no maintenance or sensor cleaning, and take good pictures. Remember that a professional photographer will take better pictures with a cell phone than you can with a $10,000 National Geographic kit. Don't rule out a nice point and shoot if you just want to throw your camera in a bag and go on a trip. At $1200 you're talking top of the line.
Now if you want to go interchangeable lenses $1200 doesn't go very far. But what it does is get you introduced to the hobby of photography. You get a simple camera body, 1 lense, and you get to go out and learn the craft. Aperture, shutter speeds, ISO, white balance, Coma, Chromatic Aberration, Vignetting, etc... It's all stuff you're going to learn. You don't just throw the camera in a backpack and go out and have fun. You have a dedicated camera bag with the camera, 10lbs of lenses, cleaning cloths, spray, lens pens, caps, filters, pro tripod, travel tripod, monopod, etc.... You must be prepared to learn, lug the stuff around, use a tripod, and spend over an hour at one location getting that perfect picture.
The best way I can describe it is if you just want to go around and take pictures as a tourist, etc... and save them all on the computer as souvenirs then I'd get a very nice point and shoot. If you want to spend 30 minutes setting up and taking 20 pictures of the same thing to get that perfect shot of a waterfall go SLR. If you would be interested in heading out at night and taking beautiful photos of the stars full of color with landscape go SLR. You can throw a nice zoom on an SLR and use it just like point and shoot as well.
If you want all the potential an SLR provides, and don't mind lugging all the stuff around and learning then go interchangeable lens. but be prepared to spend money and time.
Read up on mirrorless vs SLR. Mirrorless is pretty much as good as SLR but don't believe the hype of the compact size. Yes they are smaller but consider putting a 450mm telephoto 3lb lens on the end and it's just as big as an SLR. Plus the SLR is a nice size and grip and feels good in the hands compared to a mirrorless. Many people prefer the larger size of an SLR since it just feels right with all the lenses you snap on the front. There are more lenses available with an SLR as well and it has a price advantage over mirrorless.
Mirrorless is great for 4k video shooting over 30 minutes at a time. If this appeals to you then I would look at the Sony's. Sony makes a mirrorless that will compete with the best of SLRs. Personally I prefer Gopros and DJI drones for video and prefer a camera for photos. For SLR take a look at Pentax. They have many advantages. They offer the best full size optical viewfinder, GPS capability, Star tracking for astrophotography, in camera image stabilization, and weather sealing. If you would like to use the camera in the rain or snow then Pentax is a no brainer. If astrophotography interests you then Pentax again. And with the image stabilization you can take longer exposures hand held than with other brands that would blur. or you can buy 3rd party lenses without image stabilization built in and you still get it because it's built into the body. The processing and sensor quality of Pentax is also up there with the best. The autofocus isn't as great as say the Nikons and Canons, but as a hobbyist you won't really notice and I highly recommend the Pentax system. Pentax also offer great value. For example their $2000 K1 camera competes with the $4000 Nikon and Canon, and they are fully weather sealed. Nobody can beat their value and ruggedness.
Now lets say you want SLR. And lets say you decide on a Pentax for example. You can buy either a good camera and a cheap lens or a cheap camera and a better lense. I would always go the cheap camera good lens route. You don't want to end up with a cheap lens and limit your photography because of it. A $4000 camera will still not perform with a cheap lens. A good lens will also last you a lifetime while a camera body will eventually die and be upgraded. I'd recommend learning on a cheaper body and get a very nice lens that will allow you to take nice pictures in low light like at night and indoors. You can also get cameras as a body only or with a kit lens. You do get a good deal if you buy the kit lens and they are good lenses but I wouldn't buy it. I'd get the body only and spend the money on a good lens. It makes a world of difference.
As a recommendation I'd look at the Pentax K70 for $600. It's a notch above an entry level camera and will take very nice pictures and give you all the features you need to get into professional photography. It's the only SLR for $600 that will give you all the controls of more expensive SLRs so you can start learning the art of photography. The autofocus isn't as great so taking pictures of racecars might not be as good but you can always upgrade to a better camera body in the future. For $600 you can't be too picky.
As a lens I'd get the Pentax DA* 16-50mm F2.8 for around $820. This is a professional quality zoom lens that goes ultra wide at 16mm for landscape and cityscape to zoomed in at 50mm for portraits. It's completely weather sealed and has the image quality of Sony, Canon and Nikon lenses costing over $1000. It's a great walkaround lens that can last you a lifetime. It also has an F2.8 which tells you how much light it takes in. 2.8 is when you start getting into the pro stuff and this lense can perform indoors in dark places like wedding receptions, museums, at night when sun starts going down. With a kit lens it's harder and you have to sacrifice image quality in these situations. Even outdoors in a thunderstorm is a challenge with a kit lens, while the F2.8 would perform great. And being weather sealed this is all possible.
So for around $1400 you get the Pentax K70 body and DA* 16-50mm lens and an investment into a lifetime hobby. If you just want to take pictures and want to never mind the mumbo jumbo then pick up a nice point and shoot and forget everything else. If you want to head outdoors, set up a tripod, and spend 30 minutes taking that perfect blurred waterfall picture in the mist and another 30 minutes precessing the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom to get that shot National Geographic would be proud of, then get the Pentax and you'll have a blast. The 16-50mm lens I recommended allows it to be used as a great walk around as well, just like a point and shoot.
Future upgrades would be a tripod with a nice camera head, a telephoto lense like a 100-300mm, and a camera bag or clip. Peak Design makes nice stuff and they have a clip you screw into the camera body where a tripod would go then it just snaps onto a backpack strap or belt to carry the camera around so it's not swinging around your neck on a strap. The sky is the limit. But be warned if you were to go Pentax with the nice lens, you are stuck with Pentax for life unless you sell all your lenses. That's why people stay with Canon or Nikon or Sony, is because they own thousands of dollars in Lenses. Unless you are rich and can trade everything then decide wisely.
Another thing I forgot. Interchangeable lenses allow you to screw filters into the front of the lens. You can for example get a polarizing filter and put it on the lense. Just like polarized sunglasses, you can rotate the filter to get rid of glare. One reason I like the Pentax is the amazing optical viewfinder. I look through it, then turn the filter to get rid of the glare. It allows you to see into water when taking pictures of lakes, rivers, puddles, etc... It'll get rid of reflections when doing glass like storefronts. And for the sky you can rotate it till it's bright blue and the clouds pop...otherwise it'll be a grey washout. I always have a polarizing filter on 100% of the time during the day. You cannot do stuff like this with a point and shoot. SLR is so awesome, but it requires so much material and time to do it right. But it's the only way to experience it all.