Getting started with A/T-ing

www.wildsnow.com/category/budget-gear/

There's several years worth of the "$1000 Joe" backcountry gear articles. Might give you some ideas

Just researched and switched from tely gear myself.

I'm only ski the backcountry. Advice I gathered and adhered to for PNW BC AT for a one ski quiver

90 to 100 mm underfoot. Many buy em wider for those mythical powder days you won't be skiing most of the time unless you're unemployed. You're really going to be skiing ice, crud, corn, more than powder around here.
Weight matters. You spend most of your time climbing. A skinnier ski helps with that, too.
Dynafit bindings (nobody touches them for light weight)
By skis NOW if you're getting new stuff (they're already on sale and the inventory won't last)
Get the lightest weight boots that fit your feet. Probably only a few brands/models will. Thermafit liners don't guarantee any boot will do.
Get ski crampons.
To get the gear you want, you're gonna have to break at least a small bank. My tab was just under $1500 with everything on sale at the lowest prices I could expect for the choices I made. That didn't include skins (already had em)

FWIW, I wound up with an all Dynafit setup: TLT5 Mountain boots, Manaslu skis, Speed Radical bindings.

We skinned it with a bearing straight to the summit. I don't think you'd want to boot pack that, and you'll want to ski the bowl on the opposite side if it's stable.
  forgive me for assuming anything here but if your shovel is plastic and your beacon is old analog you might want to add those to your list as well  IMO

Thanks again. Metal shovel and this is the beacon I use ( www.backcountry.com/backcountry-access-tracker-dts-beacon ) so I think? I'm in good shape there, but your assumption that I'm no expert in backcountry is accurate. I appreciate all the replies.
I guess a couple maybe stupid questions. Is touring with regular downhill boots on the cheaper/heavier AT bindings (marker dukes or fritschi etc) not even worth considering? I remember someone saying it could be done but obviously not designed for it. If I'm following this right, I think I'd be needing Dynafit-compatible boots, some sort of A/T binding and skins to get started. It'd be nice to ease into it, buyin gear in chunks, as opposed to new(to me)  boots, bindings skins and probably skis at once but maybe I need to wipe that idea out of my head.

Again, thanks very much for the thoughtful replies.

Since most alpine boots have a fixed forward lean, your legs will be in for quite the workout trying to tour very far in alpine boots, but it can certainly be done.  If you've got a pair of skis you already like, you could always opt to remount them with some dukes or barons and just use that one setup inbounds and backcountry (i wouldn't recommend this strategy with fritschis...they'll take an alpine boot, but they're generally not considered stout enough for daily in-bounds abuse).   That would keep your expenses down to just the bindings and some skins...you could wait on the boots till later.

Just researched and switched from tely gear myself.

I'm only ski the backcountry.  Advice I gathered and adhered to for PNW BC AT for a one ski quiver

90 to 100 mm underfoot.  Many buy em wider for those mythical powder days you won't be skiing most of the time unless you're unemployed.  You're really going to be skiing ice, crud, corn, more than powder around here.  
Weight matters. You spend most of your time climbing.  A skinnier ski helps with that, too.  
Dynafit bindings (nobody touches them for light weight)
By skis NOW if you're getting new stuff (they're already on sale and the inventory won't last)
Get the lightest weight boots that fit your feet.  Probably only a few brands/models will.  Thermafit liners don't guarantee any boot will do.    
Get ski crampons.
To get the gear you want, you're gonna have to break at least a small bank.   My tab was just under $1500 with everything on sale at the lowest prices I could expect for the choices I made.  That didn't include skins (already had em)  

FWIW, I wound up with an all Dynafit setup:  TLT5 Mountain boots, Manaslu skis, Speed Radical bindings.  

I like this advice, tvashtarkatena,
good choices; good gear.

Is touring with regular downhill boots on the cheaper/heavier AT bindings (marker dukes or fritschi etc) not even worth considering?

Not worth it IMO. That's what I did years ago when I got into touring and the resort boots gave me hell to hike in.... it didn't last long.  What I would do if you want to ease into the gear is focus on some used dedicated AT boots and bindings. Get some used AT bindings and mount on whatever resort ski you may have. Then get some used AT boots... preferably Dynafit compatible. If you feel confident you will really be into touring/backcountry skiing then Fritschis or Dynafits can double for a season as a resort binding for those days until you can upgrade later on to a dedicated quiver, YMMV here.

Skins are expensive, here is an idea you might look into. Few years ago a touring friend lost one skin, just one. Not wanting to buy a new pair for his only fat touring skis, he purchased some narrow brand new skins for skinny XC skis from the local shop from their bulk spool for very little, then connected them with a strip of sil-nylon down the middle and fixed the tip and tail hardware with a spare kit. I cant recall exact details other than his total cost was ~$50 and they worked so well he's still using them. Just don't let them fold over lengthwise on the seam...

the only problem with starting out with used gear is unless your extremely lucky you probably wont get all the performance you need or desire. Dukes for super cheap are going to hurt on that super long day tour or approach, narrower skis are less ideal on the deeper days, less than perfect boots can give your feet hell and affect turns.  Keep that in mind if your struggling in any area don't rate the experience as a whole on a gear item. If you do your homework well, your used set up should make an excellent backup quiver later on... lots of good gear choice advice in this thread....