dbreezy423

All of Adversarious' advice is top notch.
 
I just want to add in one little point since you are a new vaper.  You're going to have to work out your nicotine levels if you really want to quit smoking.  It's not just aabout the clouds.  You have to work out how much of your dissatisfaction may be coming from improper (for you) nicotine levels in your juice.  That's up to you.
 
Alk the best

@Adversarious1 has some great suggestions for battery brands. I will add a caveat: while Sony VTC4 and VTC5 batteries are most excellent, you need to be very careful of these to make sure you're getting the real VTC4 and VTC5. There are many rewrapped batteries that are sold as genuine but are not, rather, they're inferior and can be potentially dangerous if used with sub-ohm coils. If you know you're getting the real thing, these batteries are awesome!
Also, I'd recommend Nitecore chargers. I have both the 4-bay and 2-bay Nitecore intellichargers and they're good workhorses.
If you're looking for more clouds, keep an eye on your PG and VG levels in the juice you use. More VG or max VG will give you bigger, denser clouds. PG is the flavor carrier. A good balance is 70VG/30PG, this blend will give satisfying clouds while also giving you flavor without muting it too much. Also, if you're using premade coils, too high a VG level can also give you dry hits if you're chain vaping or don't have enough airflow.

I totally meant to mention that in my disclaimer about the differences between MTL and DTL.  Thank You @Bebopfor mentioning it.  
The lower the ohm level, the lower you are going to want to take your nic levels.  I started at 18mg nic and 1.5 to 1.8 ohm coils.  I quickly dropped to 12mg nic when I found I didn't need as much.  Before I dropped to sub-ohm levels (below 1 ohm) I did a lot of research.  A very basic rule of thumb is to cut your nic level in half when you go below 1 ohm.  That is definitely a good place to start, but I ended up going even lower.  Very rarely do I vape anything with 6mg nic.  Most of my vaping is 0-3mg nicotine nowadays.  

It really depends on which charger, but I (and several others around here) would recommend against efest batteries.  There is a guy named John Muchow (goes by Mooch online) who has thoroughly tested and reviewed virtually every 18650 battery on the market.  In fact, his actual job revolves around testing batteries, so he has access to equipment to accurately (and safely) test batteries and his opinions are very trusted in the vaping community.  Personally I would go with any four of the following; LG HE4, LG HG2, Samsung 25R, Samsung 30Q, Sony VTC4 or Sony VTC5.  The efests are okay batteries, but the benchmark tests of those I just mentioned tested better.  That is one area where I definitely don't listen to the vape shop guys (most of them seem to love either efest or mxjo batteries, but I have personally had better luck with the LG and Samsung batteries I use.  Efest chargers, though, are good to go in my opinion and the opinions of many others.
All that being said, yes, $53ish sounds about right for four batteries and a charger.
And kudos to you for supporting your friends business.  I never hold that against anybody.  In fact, while I get most of my stuff online, I'm a huge proponent for supporting local B&M's, especially if someone at that B&M has taken time to show you some equipment and explain various things.

This is definitely a good place to ask your questions.  Just be prepared for a variety of different answers/suggestions.
Before I give you my answer/suggestion/recommendation I will give my disclaimer: Sub-ohm vaping and blowing big clouds is an different technique than you might be used to.  With your original setup and what you have now you are probably a MTL (Mouth To Lung) vaper, similar to taking a drag from a cigarette.  Most sub-ohm vapers and big clouds, for the most part, require DTL (Direct To Lung) inhaling; you actually inhale as you suck in vapor.  It takes a bit of getting used to and it is quite possible your gag reflex will kick in, but it is something that you can easily get used to if that is the direction you want to go.  You may or may not like it and everybody is different.
Now, on to the answer/recommendation.  I don't have a SMOK Alien, but a friend does and she loves it.  I've played around with it and I am seriously considering getting one for myself (because apparently 8 regulated mods just aren't enough).  If you can get the SMOK Alien Kit, all that much better.  The tank that comes with that kit is the TFV8 Baby Beast and that is a top notch tank in my opinion.  I own two Baby Beasts and have at least one in my rotation every day.  If I had a third thumb and could give three thumbs up, I would.  Since I don't and I can't, then it gets a hearty two thumbs up.  Awesome flavor, awesome cloud production.  It comes with two different coils that are as different as night and day even though the ohm rating is similar (might even be the same).  I have my preference in the coils, but I recommend trying out both if that is the direction you go.  Also, if that is the direction you decide to go, shop around.  Online prices range anywhere from about $50 to almost $70 for the kit.  Make sure to include shipping and any taxes when you calculate the expenses.  I don't think the VT store has that particular kit, but @Christopher might be able to get them in.  In any event, it's a good kit and if you shop frugally you will be able to get the kit for well under your $100 price point and still be able to get batteries, a charger and possibly some extra coils.
I also encourage you to research as many different mods as you can, wait for other recommendations from other members around here and definitely continue to ask questions on the forums.  It's always a good idea to hit up the online community to gain a wider perspective than simply going on the advice of someone working at a vape shop.  In your case, yes, the employee made a good recommendation.  But there is always the possibility the person behind the counter may be under direction to push a certain item.  The online vaping community won't steer you wrong because most of us are just normal people with regular jobs not in the vaping industry.  If we like something, we'll tell you.  If we don't, we'll tell you.