Vinyl***What If***

Fantastic Bill! Thank you for sharing.

No scaring off, I simply don't think the man is motivated enough to get into this, perhaps not enough funds for it either.
I returned to analog ten years ago and had very few records in the closet before that. But I really wanted to return and I did.
I would say, speaking new equipment, it is $1k for table/arm/cartridge, $500 for the phono stage, $750 for a cleaning machine with fluids, brushes, stylus cleaner, record sleeves etc, $200 - $250 tonearm cable. And for the records...

Passion is the key word.

Buy a vintage Empire belt drive for a few hundred and add a Grado Sonata ($350). You'll be good to go! Those old Empires are largely forgotten gems! I have four! 

For LPs I recommend buying brand new reissues - to avoid the hassle of dealing with cleaning and the search for better condition used copies. Add an RCA record brush and fluid (cheap) for dusting. And some Magic Eraser for stylus cleaning - plus a bottle of Stylast preservative.