Don't forget that you need to wear adequate respiratory protection and wear some sort of protective oversuit that will keep all those products off of you, and more importantly, won't let fibers realease onto the paint you just put on. Cotton throws off fine lint and it will stick to your new paint and look terrible.

You can do all the prep work and then farm out the final painting to an experienced shop with the proper booth and baking equipment. BTW - $1500 is a great price for a clearcoat paintjob done by a pro on a SUV. Most will warranty their work for a few years against fading and some shops will even buff out the paint and wax it for you once a year until the warranty expires. If you decide to do the prep yourself make sure you check with the shop to make sure the primer is compatible with the paint they are going to apply. Nothing sucks more than paint that comes off in big chunks because it won't adhere to the primer.