Data source and editor recommendations

Can someone offer recommendations for data sources and data editors?
I'm no cartographer, but am willing to put the work in to get reasonably
up-to-speed with the necessary skills.

I've read through the OpenMap pages and studied the various layers/formats
that OpenMap supports. I've also been digging for data sources.
Conversion/editing is a bit heady for me right now, but am improving on this
slowly.

My requirements, as I see them, are:

 - Scope is continental USA.
 - I think I'm going to require vector data for cities, towns, state
boundaries, county boundaries; with titles. (Is "vector" the correct
terminology here? Please correct me if I'm misusing terms.)
 - Optionally, major interstates and/or state highways. I realize this
might make the dataset too large for our use, but want to keep that option
open.

Sources I've looked at:

 - NIMA. Tons of information. Limited to 51MB download limit though, I
think my scope is well beyond that. They don't appear to have a tool for me
to expand the scope (full USA) but limit the type of data in order to get
the download size to a reasonable level. Their dataset is so large, that
I've had a hard time getting a concept of pricing, editability, and
licensing issues (redistributing the data).
 - TIGER. Very targeted data; fits well with my scope, I think. Media is
affordable if download isn't desired. Format is claimed to be "GIS", for
which I can find no reference in the OpenMap pages. Conversion might be an
option. (see my data editor problem below)

We're not against paying for the data. TIGER looked pretty good as far as
pricing. Is this going to be a killer pricewise?

Big issue. No data source I find is going to have exactly what I need, so I
understand I will probably be trimming data down, hopefully just removing
unused detail. This assumes I have a nice data editor, hopefully with some
limited data conversion capability. Our preferred platform is Windows for
the editor, but I'll do what is necessary to get the tool.

Any other pointers would be appreciated. Pointers to tutorials, references,
documentation; all welcome. RTFM will be met with enthusiasm. *grin*

-- 
William Guynes
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