wlmcrae said:And for places to go for the 'how to' of the great advice given so far, try the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips and/or the e-book by Tom Venuto called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.
To make your goals, you will need a balanced cardio, resistance (lifting) and nutrition program. You do not have to pay 500 million dollars to a gym/trainer for it - the above resources will give you everything you need to set up your own, start, tweak and get to your goals.
As mentioned, about 1-2 lbs of fat per week is reasonable as a goal, assuming you are a 'genetic normal'. Be aware that you could easily lose more than that in the first little bit, due to dumping water weight. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't continue at that rate. Also, measure progress by body composition, not scale weight. If you've lost 8lbs of fat and put on 4lbs of muscle in a month, don't be discouraged at a scale weight change of only 4lbs! At 2lbs fat per week, you'll lose your 80 in 40 weeks (less than a year), be healthy, solid and sassy and KNOW HOW TO MAINTAIN that for the rest of your life! Any old diet could GET you to the goal, but MAINTAINING is a lifestyle (which is why slow and steady wins the race - you're changing all your habits.)
This is a very good point. Initially you will probably lose around 10-12lbs of water, and may seem like you've struck gold with a diet/fat loss regime. Do not let this discourage you when your losses slow to 1 or 2lbs a week, as it will happen if you are doing it right.
Just stay steadfast with your diet and keep up the lifts / minor cardio and you will be well ony our way to a great end result.