I have decided to skip the CX and purchase the CP for my first heli. Since I have a Hitec Eclipse 7 and Triton charger, I don't think buying the kit makes too much sense. I will probably go for the barebones unit $99. I believe this to be the chassis and body only with no RX, mixer, servos, shafts or blade.

Is this correct?
Should I just bite the bullet and skip the stock motor and go for the higher output motor?

Baarebones includes everything except servos and 4 in one receiver. It does include shaft and blade.

If you do go for a higher output motor just don't waste your time trying to go brushless. I had plenty of performance with the 370 motor with 9t pinion from the aerobatic kit. I have heard of people using a Venom Fireball brushed motor, just go brushed so you don't have to hassle with mixing boards to get that tail rotor working properly.

If you DO go separates, all you need to get in this case is the 2-in-1 unit which will mix your main and tail rotors as well as provide an outlet for the gyro to send its signal (it interprets this signal and outputs it as a motor signal for the tail). You'll also need a basic piezo gyro, nothing fancy because the fixed pitch tail isn't very precise. Just get a GWS PG-03 gyro for $35 and you'll be set, worked fine for me.

For servos, I'd say just get the E-Flite S75 servos. They're light, have a lot of torque, are cheap to replace and are just pretty darn good.

Take your time with the radio setup, you will probably have to use a lot of subtrim for the rudder because of how the 2-in-1 interprets the gyro's signal.