Hating Illustrator Right Now

I have never really used illustrator before, so it is virtually all new to me. The vector system is very confusing,but at the same time I can see its advantages. Since I want to be doing some complex engraving I have been live tracing some images  to experiment with. I have found that most images are generating extremely complex vectors which will take an eternity to engrave, because of this, i know later on I will have to simplify down the images. THe plan is to have  a top layer, a middle layer and a bottom layer. The middle layer I plan to engrave the shape of a CD on both sides. This way 2 CDs can fit on either side. The top and bottom layer will hold the CD in place.