The idea that fat burners don't work is ludicrous. They are not a substitute to diet & exercise, but can help greatly combined with those things. You will cut fat a whole lot faster than diet/exercise alone.
1. Get your diet in check. Talk to a nutritionist, trainer, or someone knowledgable. You will need to calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate), then adjust calorie intake so that you are consuming well under maintenance calories. There is a calculator to do this on bodybuilding.com. You will need to know your bodyfat % though, your gym should be able to do that. Have them use a skin caliper, those electric things many gyms use are crap. Keep re-calculating your BMR as you lose weight & adjust your intake as necessary.
2. Start working out regularly. especially cardio. 1 mistake I see a lot of overweight guys doing is focusing way too much on lifting, & neglecting the cardio- Bench press for 20 sets, then 15 minutes on the treadmill & done. Make your focus at least 50% cardio until you have lost significant weight. I'm sure you have a good deal of muscle hiding already, there's no need to train like you're preparing for Mr Olympia. Lose the fat, then concentrate more on building muscle. You really won't be able to gain muscle in a caloric defecit anyway.
3. Fatburners are your choice, but I recommend it in your case with a lot of weight to lose. I have used caffeine/ephedrine stack with a lot of success. You don't need to spend a ton of money on trimspa or hyroxycut. you can get a bottle of both caffeine tabs & eph tabs for about $12 online. Green tea extract is also a good addition. If you want ephedra free, look for a reasonably priced option.
Thanks for everyones contributions. 
