Moving from Illinois to Portland

My husband and I are looking into moving from Illinois to the Portland area in March of 2014. It's scary. We've never lived anywhere other than the small town we live in currently. We don't have any jobs lined up, but are simply ready for an adventure. As of right now we have a lot of questions, the main one being where would the best area be to reside? Would an area like Tigard be far less expensive than Portland to live in? And then what about transportation to and from? Also, since we will probably be job hunting once we arrive is it easy to find a job in Portland? Where are the best places to look in the city? Is one neighborhood better than another for this?

As you can see this is going to be daunting but we are very ready to get started on the next chapter of our lives.