My income is far from $#!+ also.
In my combo home office and media room I don't need that many channels so I am using the Lyngdorf MP40 which supports up to 12 channels and is much less costly. The MP40 is also limited to only three HDMI inputs and the HDMI board is not up to the 2.1 spec either. Another limitation of both Lyngdorf's is that there is no analog input. None of these limitations were deal breakers for me though. I just bought a miniDSP Flex to use as an affordable A to D. (I wanted to add this capability for inputting analog test tones.)
For a less than ideal room, the better room correction you can implement the better... if you can also get creative with elements of decor in the room, that can go a long way towards improving the sound. All three processors that I was mentioning have the power to help massage a room... within reason. FWIW: I have also used Anthem ARC, and most flavors of Audessey, as well as the JBL Synthesis ARCOS system. Lyngdorf's RoomPerfect is by far the simplest to get consistently great results. This combined with the initial manual EQ massaging and post Room Perfect "Voicing" that you can add, it is a very flexible system.
I am using powered speakers in my room and enjoy the system as a secondary 2 channel system as well as my home theater with projector and pull down screen. I never found any of the Marantz, Denon, Sony, or Yamaha AVRs or processors to sound good enough in 2 channel for me to really be satisfied. (Just one person's opinion... I know plenty of folks who seem quite content with one of these processors or AVRs especially with outboard amplification.)
Regarding a second remote, look at Logitech or one of the other universal remotes to simplify control. We deliver our systems with Savant or Crestron for control, but these both have steep programmer learning curves and the hardware is not inexpensive.