I'm not looking for anything amazing, and I fully realize that not spending very much will lead to possibly needing to replace these down the road, but as I'm just starting out and don't have very much to work with, I'm wondering if there is anything remotely close to my price range for what I'm wanting.

I want sticks that will accept a ball head (I also do photography) and a 3 way.

I would like the legs to be under $100 so that I have a bit to drop on the heads. I've been browsing through the low end manfrotto stuff, but they are all fixed head units and I'd like to be able to switch out.

Is this a pipe dream for my price range?

Try a Velbon maybe. I used a velbon 686 for a couple years for video, wasn't totally terrible!

Velbon | Sherpa 600RA Tripod Legs | SHERPA600RA | B&H Photo Video

Mostly a pipe dream.

I never saw any legs under 300 dollars that were up to the job they need to be.

Perhaps someone else will pipe in with something you could use.