The term high level programming is being thrown around alot. C++ is not a high level programming language. C++ is a low level programming language meaning that is closer to machine language than spoken language. BASIC would be considered high level because it is closer to spoken language. C++ is however highly complex which is what I believe many of the posters meant. Windows programming even more complex because it takes all the data structures and organization of C++ and adds the manipulation of windows and controls.
Personally (18yr old kid no industry experience) , C++ is fine to learn. It contains all the major data types. You can go into depth in everything from data organization to graphics programming. And changing from C++ to another language won't be that difficult. The concepts will stay the same. You will just need to learn slightly different syntax and functions.