For $325 or $300 just buy it. When, and if, you exceed its parameters you can upgrade. Put more money into the glass. Lenses are way more important than technology. The T3i is a solid camera. You'll get lots of use out of it, especially if you are just starting.

The T5 is nice but I would stick with the "i" builds of the Canon line. So the T5i or the T6i. The non-"i" builds are built cheaper and are crippled compared to their "i" counterparts.

Get the camera and go shooting! I wanna see what you do with it.