Hey and welcome to the forum!
I think C++ would be your best bet. I would go with Visual Studio 2005 C++. And no, C# will not replace C++. C++ will be best for you because you already know ANSI.
C# would be my second choice if I were you. C# is very good for RAD (Rapid Application Development) and is fairly similar to C++.
I'm not a fan of VB at all so I never recommend it.
Also, check out these threads:
http://forum.codecall.net/programmin...age-learn.html
http://forum.codecall.net/programmin...ogramming.html