Offthegrid, you are absolutely correct in thinking that boots are the most important part of your set up. You can have mediocre board and bindings and still have a great day out on the hill, but if you have mediocre boots it can ruin your season. Boots are all about comfort. Performance is important too, so you are probably going to have to be a little flexible on price.
I've ridden 32 and Burton primarily. I've tried on other brands (Rome, Forum, DC, etc.), but I always come back to 32 and Burton for the final decision (because they fit me best). As far as tech is concerned, I love Burton's speed lace system. I've ridden two sets of boots with speed lace and love how easy it to make adjustments to fit. You can be standing in line for the chair and completely change how the boot fits your fit without skipping a beat. I also like how simple the system is; there's hardly anything that can break. No moving, mechanical parts. It's just a well designed, dependable system.
I also really like Burton's EST sole and footbed. It's very minimilist and gives great board feel and great support. Every brand has their own proprietary gel/foam footbed and it's hard to say one is better than the other. If you are in the park, you want something with good impact absorption. If you are into deep snow and pow days, you want something stiffer and with better ankle support.
Every decent boot nowadays comes with heat moldable liners. Once you figure out what you want, take the 20 minutes and get the boot custom fit to your foot. It doesn't cost anything extra and will make your first couple days in the new boots much more pleasant.
