BobbyG's recommend is very good. I went the non-kit route because I couldn't find a kit with the exact components I wanted. If I was gonna do it all over again, I'd buy fewer pads. I found you can use Mike P's clean-on-the-fly technique to keep a single pad clean enough to do each step on a small to medium sized car (Saturn Ion to RAV4 size). I would buy:
1. PC
2. Menz Polishes or, my fav, Wolfgang "Trio" - Total Swirl Remover, Finishing Glaze and Paintwork Polish Enhancer along with Menz Powerlock sealant - the Menz PL comes with a red pad and a mf buffing cloth.
3. 1 LC 5.5 Flat Pad 6 Pak - 2 Orange, 2 White, 1 Grey, 1 Blue - orange for the TSR, white for FG, grey for the WG PPE and blue for wax topping over the sealant ( I use Collinite 845 on the recommend of Bobby and many, many others here).
I like the WG/ Menz line because it is as simple and easy to use as many of the posts here say. It's a bit more expensive, but I'll take that for ease of use. How easy? Took me half a car to figure it out, and I'd never done this before. CAVEAT: I am an ex industrial process engineer so I have run a lot of industrial equip. Still, it was very easy.
You can also buy a 3.5" backing plate and some 4" pads for tighter spots. That's optional. If very careful, you can get most areas with the 5.5" pads. The few areas I couldn't get I've done mostly by hand.