I've been producing for 10 years and have been through a few different set ups. What I do now is based around a PC, and MPC1000 and several hardware synths, mostly analogue. This suits my style which is quite synth-heavy techno/electro.
Tips from me:
Invest in good sound sources - not just money but the time in learning how to use them properly. A good, inspirational sound can carry a track on it's own - conversely, the #1 reason for inexperienced producers screwing up track is using mediocre sounds, attempting to add more parts to overcome this and overcomplicating the arrangement as a result.
Work quickly, and get rid of any equipment/software that slows you down.
Simplicity is best every time.
If you only drop serious money on one thing in your studio, it should be the monitors. Buy the best pair you can possible afford and get some basic acoustic treatment done too.
Get a 2nd hand MPC and try it out. If it doesn't work for you then sell it, but a lot of people moving from software programming find that it's the missing 10% they've been looking for. Seriously, almost every hip hop producer uses one and there is a good reason for that. I would never, ever go back to programming beats on a computer, no way.
Keep things organised so that you don't get dragged down by mundane stuff when you're being creative. Organise your sample libraries so you can find stuff quickly, use sequencer templates so you don't have to set the tracks up each time, discipline yourself to learn keyboard shortcuts - that sort of thing. If you get into hardware, use a patchbay and keep up to date with maintainance.
The advice about finishing tracks is good. Mixing is a chore but the only way to get good at it is to do it - once you do start getting better it gets easier, and having good monitors helps a lot.
Everyone has thier own producing method, but this is the way I do it: Fire up the MPC and some synths and get a good loop going, playing with ideas and trying out different stuff really quickly. Have a blaze and dance around the room a bit, get a feeling for it. Then I use the MPC to block the drum tracks out and do the structure of the tune, I put more synth parts in to flesh it out, and I record everything into the PC as seperate audio tracks. All of that normally takes 4-8 hours of work. Then I back everything up and leave it for a few weeks. When I come back to it, I've got fresh ears and I can be more objective about the merits of what I did - a lot of my tunes get scrapped at this stage. If I do decide to work more on it, I often add little incidental sounds that help the arrangement, and I do a lot of boring work taking noise out of the audio tracks (important when you use hardware).
Once a track's ready to be mixed, I put it in the 'to be mixed' pile. I tend to mix tunes in batches so I can really get my tech-head on.