I'd also suggest getting something for distance. I'm a two-handed, heavy armor wearing dude, too, but I also use a lot of bow and arrow. You need something to cut those mages down from a distance. Trying to run up and bash each one of them is not going to work out, especially if you've got half a dozen of them spread out in a field.
I like bow and arrow, but it does take a while before it gets good. I used Destruction magic in my last go-around, but it wasn't as fun as I'd hoped. I like bow and arrow better for distance, especially when you get it up past 70 or so. There are other magic options, too, but I didn't mess with them (e.g., conjuration).
To piggyback on what Bildi said ... Some basic leveling tips: Get Smithing up first, so you can craft Daedric armor. An easy way to level up Smithing is to craft a bunch of simple stuff like daggers or hide bracers. Buy some training, too. Then get Enchanting up. You can do that by enchanting lots of iron daggers and swords with petty/lesser/common soul gems. You should pay for some training there, too. (There is also a mod for faster leveling, if you don't mind sacrificing achievements/trophies.)
It's a bit of a grind, but it really pays off. Once you get Enchanting up to 100, you can have 2 enchantments each. Use the appropriate potions to improve the armor and weapons at the table (Blacksmith poition, I think it's called), and the appropriate potion to boost enchantment (Enchantment Philter or whatever). If you have two enchantments on Daedric armor and weapons, you'll be seriously overpowered for almost all encounters.
I didn't bother to level Alchemy. I didn't have the patience, and smithing + enchanting was more than enough. I find it boring to collect all those ingredients, brew potions, and slowly level up. So I just skipped that. I was able to find most of the necessary potions in the field anyhow.
