Some dumb questions on casting

I've been humming and harring about getting into casting, mostly because of the price of entry in Australia.  But I've been having a hell of a time trying to find round balls for my fowler so I might have to take a dip. 

I can either buy a Lee bottom pour for about $350 or I've found a second hand RCBS bottom pour for $550. Any experiences of one over the other? 

On to the dumb questions, when you've finished casting do you need to drain out the remainder of the lead or do you just let it set in the furnace pot? 

Lastly, in terms of what's required I'm thinking molds, handles, furnace, thermometer... what else?

Either Pot is good, The RCBS being the better of the 2, I have 3 Lee 4-20 Bottom Pour Pots and have had great luck with them, I personally would not Pay a bunch extra for the RCBS

I rarely ever clean my Bottom pour pots (maybe 1 time a year?) I also rarely ever skim the Crud off off the top of the Molten Lead/Alloy, I leave the Crud layer on top as it protects the Molten Lead/Alloy underneath, This is one of the Beauties of a Bottom Pour Pot  

As for Molds, you just can’t beat Accurate Molds, I am a Steel/Iron Mold Fan, I personally don’t care for Aluminum and Brass, My Steel Molds look as good today as they did when i bought them, they are EXTREMELY Durable (Forgiving to a new Caster) Aluminum & Brass Molds can/will Gall Easily.
  My 2 Favorite handles are RCBS and the newer Lyman Handles, Accurate Mold Blocks work great with RCBS, Lyman will not fit Accurate Mold Blocks without some modification
A good thermometer is a MUST! You need to know what the actual temperature is of the Lead/Alloy, I cast between 790 and 810 Degrees, That is where i get best Fillout

I use the Lee bottom pour pot also. Had it for about 12 years now and it hasn't let me down. Casting isn't that hard if you do it right.
A couple other things you're going to need is a pair of leather gloves, safety glasses, and a mold mallet (I use a 1.25" dowel about 14" long) to tap open the sprue and tap the bolt on handles if the bullets don't fall out. Never tap the mold itself.
Now, there's been millions of bullets cast using nothing more than a cast iron pot and a ladle instead of a bottom pour pot. I did many like that myself over a camping gas stove until I could afford a pot. But unlike a bottom pour you must continually skim the scum off the top of the molten lead.