General words of wisdom on tents:
1. When you read specifications on tent dimensions, the dimensions for width and height will be based on where the support poles hit the ground, not the about of usable space inside a tent. Count on reducing the amount of usable space by about 5" in both width and height.
2. Many tents now a days are not square. So when you see a tent specification that only has one number for width, check around to ensure you know the shape of the tent floor and therefore can better gauge it's actual width. I've seen many tent specifications like "88x55" when I know the tent has a trapezoid shaped floor and 55 is the widest point, while the actual width at the feet are likely 45" (and that's BEFORE that 5" deduction I mentioned above).
3. There was a time when there was such a thing as "standard" size 2 person tents, and "wide" size 2 person tents. But in the race to make the lightest tent possible, almost every manufacturer no a days is making only "standard" size tents. And a 2-person "standard" size is a tight squeeze for 2, and a comfortable space for 1.
Here's a great tent to get you started:
Kelty Gunnisson 2.2 at Sierra Trading Post. I consider this tent a steal at only $99. This that cheap because it's a model from a few years back... when some tents were getting made wider than others (and this is one of them). Where today's typical tent lists specs of 88x55, this one is 93x57 (and it's a square). The tent is definitely on the heavy side (compared to a Copper Spur), but it has more room and is more durable (around kids). So for only $100, I would highly recommend this to be a great "starter" tent for someone.
BTW, I have the Kelty Gunnisson 3.2 (3-person version of this exact model) that I currently use when taking two kids on weekend trips.
And to prove my point about tents have been getting smaller, the specifications for the current model of the Kelty Gunnison 2 is only 89x51