If you are certain you are happy getting fat and puffy, then definitely bulk before you cut, but for me if I bulked to start with I would get demotivated from putting on fat, which would ruin my chances of ever looking good as I would probably stop lifting, however if you chose to bulk then a bulk for a natural lifter would have to be clean, you are definitely better off eating at maintenance than eating above 400 or 500 calories more than your maintenance.
The benefit of cutting for a beginner, is you get to see results quick, which will keep you motivated, and it will help you better understand how your bodies metabolism works. Also once you are lean enough and start to see abs, then you can slowly start to increase calories by 100 a week or every 2 weeks, which will help to build up your metabolism for a clean bulk after the cut
Just my opinion, not saying i'm an expert haha