It is not hard to build decent wheels, not rocket science. Your first set will be time consuming. And since it will be your first, strength and reliability may be on your mind while you are riding -- how confident will you be, miles from nowhere on the first set of wheels you ever built? You'll probably do a better job building your own -- paying better attention to details of getting it right vs. getting it done -- than an average shop mechanic who very infrequently builds wheels, but will your confidence in self-built wheels give you the same peace of mind as a set pro-built by someone with an excellent reputation? What's your time worth vs. what you'd pay to have someone else build them?
I build my own wheels and I build wheels professionally. Before I learned how to do it and got somewhat proficient, were I in your shoes, I'd be saving my pennies to buy a wheelset from
Peter White Cycles...