fishless cycling and plants..so confused! what to do?

When starting up a new planted tank, there are basically 2 ways to begin:

1. Do a "silent cycle" using plants from the beginning: Add your substrate (gravel or fluorite/soil/whatever you wish to use), some dechlorinated water, filter, then plant the tank with a large amount of fast-growing, nutrient-hogging plants like anacharis, hornwort, etc. They will absorb the ammonia produced by your fish so that (if plant to fish ratio is well balanced) you shouldn't see any ammonia or nitrites, and very little nitrate. Feed the tank with fishfood or use some plant fertilizer to feed your plants, and after you're sure the plants are doing well in the tank (say 2 weeks or so) you can add some fish, and slowly increase the fish load.
The benefit of this method is that you can add some fish right away (as soon as you know the plants are going to be OK in the tank). But your tank isn't really "cycled", because if your plants start dying (or you take them out of the tank) you WILL see ammonia/nitrite spikes.
OR

2. You can cycle your tank WITHOUT PLANTS OR FISH using ammonia, and when the cycle is finished you can add your plants, then your fish. This method can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks, but you can speed up the process by using a product named "Bio-Spira", or using some gravel and/or filter media from an already cycled tank that has been operating for a few months.

It's your choice which method you prefer...just don't try to mix the 2 methods and plant the tank then add ammonia to cycle it, or you'll have a tank full of algae/green water.

PS. It sounds like you don't want a heavily planted tank, so in that case I would abandon the "silent cycle" method #1 and go with regular cycling with ammonia, than add plants after the cycle is complete.