I wrote up a summary of my reloading kit on another forum a while back in response to a similar "What should I get" question. There was a lot of debate about whether to get a kit, or buy nicer individual components and whether to weigh each charge or use a automated powder dispenser like the RCBS Chargemaster. I'll cut and paste it below since it might be of some help to you....
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I've walked down the same path you are looking at, and I'm very much a research all my options guy so I've looked at a lot of these individual components. I'm also a big fan of buy for value, not to just spend money on the best. Here's my list of items currently in use and breakdown of their cost/value to me.
Rockchucker Supreme Kit - $250 after rebate
Good press, no complaints at all. I like the hand priming tool, works great and is fast. Not the nicest option out there, but no need to spend more. The powder drop works fine for me, but I'm just using it for a rough throw and then weighing every round individually trickling up to the final weight. Case lube and pad works well too, I can roll 10 cases at a time on it, then will rub just a little on the neck with my fingertips as I size them. Goes very fast. Reloading manual is good to have, but I probably use online reloading manuals just as much if not more. Just a reference point. Still use the case neck brush and champfer/deburr hand tools. I sometimes will chuck the brush head in a drill for faster cleaning, and if I'm trimming (Lee trimmer) then the case is already chucked in the drill and you can spin the case while you trim, champfer, deburr, and clean the neck with the various hand tools. No wrist pain. I will do a touch up champfer/debur even when I'm not trimming and that I will do by hand with the tool. It's super fast and easy IMHO, just a few seconds per case and no real effort required. I don't like the big green cartridge holding block. I bought some of the blue Franklin loading blocks that have a smaller footprint and hold the cases better. I don't use the 505 scale anymore. It works, but you should only expect +/- 0.1g accuracy from it based on my testing.
Hornady OAL, bullet comparator, and headspace tools. ~$70
This is a must have. One of the biggest components of precision reloading is knowing the headspace of your brass when sizing, the distance of the bullet to the lands of your rifling, and the measurement of your case base to bullet ogive when seating bullets. There's a couple other tools/ways to do this, but I like these tools a lot.
Acculab VIC-123 digital scale - $125
This was a $300 scale that I got a good deal on by buying used. Works great and is accurate to 0.02g. If I didn't have this I would be using the GemPro 250. I found it MUCH more accurate than the RCBS 505 scale, which I no longer use.
Powder trickler - $20-60
Started with an RCBS hand trickler, then on impulse purchased an Omega powered trickler for $60. If you are trying to accurately weigh each charge then a trickler is a must have. The Omega trickler works well and is a nice little luxury for an extra $40.
Flash hole deburring tool - $15
Only used this on the initial prep of my Remington headstamp brass, essentially a one time tool. Don't think I'd need it if I were using Lapua brass only. More of a "peace of mind" kind of optional purchase.
Redding primer pocket uniforming tool - $20
Primer pocket uniforming is another of those optional things that probably doesn't make a huge difference. However, what I find this tool really useful for is cleaning primer pockets every time I reload. I use this tool chucked in a hand drill and it is very fast to clean out the primer pockets after depriming. It doesn't really cut any additional brass on the repeat uses, but it does clean out all the carbon nicely. Well worth buying IMO.
Lyman 1200 Tumbler - $45 + media
I use corn cob media with a tiny dab of car wax and metal polish added for nice, shiny brass. I tumble first, then deprime/size. I use a cotton t-shirt to wipe the case lube off the brass.
Lee Case trimmer stud/holder - $13
Includes a holder to chuck the case into a cordless drill, then a cutter stud. Once the case is chucked in the drill you can also clean the lube off the case with a t-shirt, champfer/debur, and use a brush inside the case neck... all while spinning the case. The main thing I like about this cutter is that it's cheap, and it does the job fine.
Hand held blow torch, hand drill 1/4" drive chuck, long socket to hold the case (all for annealing) - $25
I anneal the case necks for consistent neck tension and to prolong the life of the brass. Use a metronome and a torch/drill, read up on how to properly anneal without overheating the brass.
Extras - $30-60
Hornady Lock Rings for dies (very nice), shell holder, digital calipers (I like the iGaging Absolute Origin as a halfway point between cheap-o and Mitutoyo), universal decapping die for if you want to deprime without sizing, bullet puller, extra bushings for your dies.
Redding Competion Bushing Die Set - $150 (used)
I like the Redding Type-S full length bushing die set. You choose your desired neck tension based on the thickness of your brass neck (measure a loaded round) then purchase the appropriate bushing that's .001 or .002 smaller. I size without using the expander button. There are lots of other options out there like the Lee Collett dies which are also well regarded. What I *really* value is the competition bullet seating die. It's super nice to be able to adjust the seating depth on the fly, down to .001", just by spinning the adjustment dial. I would find it very frustrating to try to control bullet seating depth and adjust base to ogive measurements using a traditional seating die.
So the grand total on all this is pushing $750. You'll note that this is a more complete kit than others might have listed, but it's also a pretty honest assessment of the type of tools you're likely to get. Nothing here is that extravagant. Yes, you can buy cheaper dies and skipping the digital scale will save some money. What I would suggest is to make an evaluation of what type of person you are and what type of reloading you're after. If you are someone who is meticulous enough to want to get each powder charge measured accurately down to the kernel of powder then the kit above is probably the cheapest way to tackle that. It's a more time consuming way to do things, and the resulting difference in bullet velocity variation is probably not that huge... maybe the difference between an SD of 5 or an SD of 10fps and an extra 3-4 inches of vertical variation at 1000 yards. Subtle stuff in the grand scheme of things.
If you think that you won't enjoy longer reloading sessions meticulously measuring things, but you want to make a higher volume of good (enough) quality ammo, then you could look at a different approach. Get an RCBS Chargemaster and skip the kit since you don't need the powder drop, beam scale, or trickler. Then maybe something like a case prep center. Cost would be a tiny bit more, but loading would be significantly faster. You could make more ammo and/or you'd spend less time reloading overall, but at the cost of a little bit of precision. If you're type-A like some of us are, it's hard to give up that little bit of control. And I personally don't mind time at the reloading bench.
This is a somewhat philosophical question, so it's hard to give a new reloader the advice of "buy once cry once" or "just get a kit".
