Regarding Spouse Visa

Hi,

I am staying in India and getting married in Jan 07. My fiancee is studying in University of Wisconsin, Madison. I want to go with him after marriage and I am interested in pursuing post doctrate studies in US, and on spouse visa I am not eligible to either work or study and I cannot go with him also immediately after marriage. Therefore, I want to go on tourist visa. So that on tourist visa I can look for my studies opportunities there and then can get my own visa. Please suggest me:

1) What all formalities do I need to complete to get tourist visa?

2) Does the person sending me an invitation letter to come US also need to submit some fees? If yes, then how much is it?

3) How long does it takes to issue tourist visa?

4) Which visa spouse/ tourist is easy to get?

I am in dilemma and I hope you all can help me out.

Thanks

Geetu