truly, the hassles you guys have with imports, along with other countries really bites.
You'll do well.
In my Portrait/still life class, yea the instructor, a pro, does reccomend high bucks stuff, (much more than you or I spent )but he also shows that super-effective ligthing can be done, no matter what the cost of the equipment.
two items for your wish list:
1.largest softbox you can afford
2. two "grids" with pretty narrow angles.
we used the above in class to make shots that were very good.