I've been in the same spot for the past year, lol. Here's my 2 cents. Start with 1 snake and a T8 (I personally can't stand rack systems, I understand their use for breeders, but I couldn't house a pet in one). But make sure the morph you pick is something you REALLY want (helps with temptation).
Then in a year or so you can decide if you want more snakes. That gives you a year to keep track of costs for the one animal, that you can then multiply to see if you can even afford to set up more. Getting the rack system would probably save you money - you would only be buying 1 heating set up, a few water dishes, and 0 cage decor. This would allow you to spend that extra cash on multiple snakes. You'd be making the trade between an awesome setup that you can customize with rocks / sticks / cool hides and be aesthetically pleasing for multiple cool morphs.
The other side of the coin is what are your plans for said snakes? Breeding vs pets? While snakes don't 'need' attention the same way a dog does, you do have to spend time maintaining husbandry (looking for waste, changing substrate, freshening water, and so forth), the more you have the more time you spend in up keep vs holding / interacting with each one.
I really enjoy tinkering with my guys cage, he's in a T11 and I love to see how he explores after I change it up from monthly cleanings. I have several large pieces of java wood that I can switch out as well as piles of river rocks - his hides always stay the same but I can add and remove branches and additional things for enrichment. I also do really enjoy taking some time just handling him - he very chill and curious.
All this said, I am looking at getting an additional snake. When I got mine, I was looking for a good pet that I could learn how to care for - I didn't research morphs much and was not thinking about how mine would age color-wise. Now that I'm more aware of ball pythons in general I really want a female Ivory - if I had started with that I'd most likely not be looking at getting a second snake.
Good luck with the decision
No cage is too large - nature is the best template - a snoot can't be booped too much
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