The cabling you could do that way but I have a preamp with XLR in and 1/4" out so I never had to go that route. That being said I DO have one of those conversion things that looks like a big metal hot dog in case I run out of XLR sometime.

You can go with a floor stand and boom that has a round base rather than a tripod but if you are nervous about it tipping, watch for someone selling weights and buy a 10 pound weight plate to put on the floor base.