USB Developement Kit for Mouse emulation?

[CpuWiz51]

Hi all! It has been awhile since I've coded hardware. I have an older version of CCS PCM and I'm very familiar with coding for the 16F877. I have never attempted a USB project before, but I need to make a mouse emulator for a project I'm working on. My question is... would the USB DEV kit be the way to go? Has anyone had any hands on with the ex_usb_mouse.c example (I don't have that with my current old version). It seems like people are having a lot of problems with USB stuff. Or Should I just hack a USB ball mouse and mess with the encoders with a PIC?
I basically just need to move the cursor around the screen with either switches or pots. And it has to be a hardware solution NOT software (as in mouse movements through the keyboard.) Or does anyone know of a hardware solution that is out there? (Of course I would rather write my own but hey- someone may have already done it!) Thanks in advance for your input.