gibson guitar 5k

Is epiphone just a cheap gibson?
hi i was talking to my teacher this day and we were discussing guitars and i told him that i wanted a les paul (hes really good at playing, he played for like 18 years or so), and then i say that i im not really good enough to spend 5k on a gibson les paul.. and then he says that you should always buy a guitar that was a little bit better than yourself? just like when small children gets shoes, they need to be able to grow feet in em. is it the same way with guitars? im thinking of buying an epiphone les paul, cause right now im playing on this really crappy gibson sg copy.
heres the difference between gibson and epiphone
ginson is handmade while epiphone isnt ok
Gibson 5K 2009 Memphis