Making a virtual pinball is a different thing. i have one with nudging and analog plunger and a big enough screen. no coils etc. i love my virtual pinball but it is just not the same than a real one.
and building a real machine is a whole different experience as well. understanding and making all the mechs work is the cool stuff you don't have with a virtual pin.
With a virtual pin you will have most of the tinkering on the software side. getting it all to work on the correct monitor etc..

Here is a link with lots of information. That really helped me on how to get started.
https://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

like others wrote, it is definitly a hard thing to do, and there are cheaper hobbies out there, but it is very rewarding. so if you like tinkering, go for it.

making a vpx table can surely help with designing the layout, and to find out what works and what doesn't.
and of course it is the best idea to thing ahead as much as possible

but to encourage you:
Some people just start with a playfield, screw on parts and making the flipper work. and once you have that all is awesome.
and with for example multimorphic boards (don't know about fast) you can always add another board if you run out of connectors.
or for example the cobrapin Controller is a nice thing that is really cheap.

so what i am saying is, it doesn't need to be a fully designed machine before you start.

IMG_20200202_201641 (resized).jpg

so did that discussion actually help you decide on what to do?