2001 Miata: hesitating, hiccuping and stalling in 1st Gear

I bought a 2001 Miata, manual transmission with 34,000 miles on the clock a week ago. The engine check light came on two days later and it idled and stalled in the first gear. Since then, taking off in 1st gear is a problem with hiccuping, jerking, stalling. It goes really well in the other gears. I put some fuel injection cleaner in the tank and am running it on premium fuel right now.

Any suggestions? Could it be the air flow meter? This was a suggestion from a friend who is not a mechanic.
Thank you.