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Term is the way to go.

Remember, your life insurance agent is going to try to sell you way more than you need.

Life insurance is not something you buy/use to fund your retirement. It's only purpose is to provice your wife/children with a way of maintaining their quality of life in case the unthinkable happens to you. I would suggest something like a 20-year term policy for around 10-15x your income. Depending on how much your wife makes and how well she could support herself if you died, and how much in assets you already have built up is a big factor in how much you want to take out. If she is completely dependent on you, then you want more, if she is able to work and provide, you might not need as much.

Also, once your kid gets to be 18-20, you don't need as much insurance anymore as they are getting to the point where they can start to provide for themselves. Each situtation will be dependent on the circumstances, so buy as much coverage as you feel is adequate to support your family in case they lost you.

Don't buy it as a way to fund your retirement, that is what retirement plans are for (and retirment plans give you much more bang for your buck). All forms of insurance are meant to cover emergencies only, anything more than that is -EV.