I vastly prefer CSS+HTML to plain HTML and tables-based layouts. Then again, I learned - and started fiddling with - CSS when the spec was first published in 1998. I had learned HTML in 1994, so didn't have years of previous habits I had to unlearn.

Try learning the basics of CSS and controlling styles via stylesheets rather than egregious use of the font tag. Slowly ease into using DIVs for smaller internal components. You may never ever get away from tables layouts completely - in one case, I needed to use that to achieve the height-effect that I wanted - but you'll also be better poised to take advantage of Ajax and DHTML libraries.