>>95996807
Alright, this is right up my alley
The core books (PHB 1-3, MM 1-3, DMG 1-2) plus the Monster Vault and Rules Compendium if you want the rules in book form are what you will want to get. These cover the vast majority of the rules, character material, things like that.
A good houserule you should include is a free feat, one of the Expertise feats for whatever the player wants for the character. On top of that, try to use the monsters from the Monster Vault if they appeared before the third Monster Manual. If you want to use a monster from the MM 1 or 2 that is not in the Monster Vault, you'll want to reduce their HP and increase their damage (how much varies by who tells you to do this, a common "halve HP, double damage" is tossed around but that's more for solo monsters, just play it by ear).
You do NOT need to use Skill Challenges. Just encourage unique skill usage and eyeball when they would effectively pass what would typically be a skill challenge and add that to XP at the end of the session.
There are a few websites that have basically all of the rules out there, iws.mx is a good one so check it out.
Now, for combat, lots of people complain they take too long. If they become too long for you, put your players on a timer (I have to do this in way too many systems, but people believe it is unique only to 4e for some reason).
Have fun! It's a good system, my personal favorite D&D edition and I hope you have a fun time with it.