"Backcountry" Equipment..hmmm?

My Question is what type of skis, bindings and boots to get:

My wife and are starting to get more into "backcountry" skiing. We
recently went up to Mt. Lassen and were fine on the road (Hwy 89)
because it had tracks. However, once we ventured off the road and onto
the bypass near Diamond Peak we were unable to climb and on the way
down we had little control. It was still great skiing in the virgin
powder even though we ate it often. We have also skied out to Dewey
Point at Yosemite.

Right now we pretty much have track skis. My wife (5ft/100lbs) is a
beginner-intermediate. I (5'11/180) am more advanced and used to ski
with 3 pin and leather boots (sold long ago at garage sale) and used
to do a little resort telemarking. I would to take some telemark
refresher courses and get my wife to take some too. We would also
like to continue our treks off track and possible build up to a trip
to Ostrander hut (and similar trips) someday.

There is a big jump to the next level (in weight and cost) of
equipment. Looks like we can

1) choose among a few remaining makes/models of 3 pin leather boots,
2) stick with the standard boots (bar) or,
3) go for 3 pin plastic/telemark type boots and bindings

Skis – lots of different choices there too.

After a little research, I have some questions:

For the level of trips I described above (some on track, some off)
what type of equipment should we look at? I know skins will help on
the climb.

I figure we have our track skiis for groomed tracks…what about those
days when we want to do a little more? Safety is concern #1, cost is
2nd (cheaper to pay for good equipment than hospital bills).

Are telemark type boots too much? They don't look very glide
friendly.

Are releasable bindings too much? Already had a torn ACL from
downhill accident. Would rather have good equipment than have a trip
to the ER.

Thanks for any suggestions.