Help choosing the right board and peripherals to make a quad copter

I would suggest looking at the various open source autopilot projects that are available on the internet. It's a complicated problem and solving it yourself from scratch would be an enormous challenge, but by adopting one of the open source projects and the hardware that it is based on, the hardest part has been done for you. Mind you, what's left will still be difficult, and I suggest you join the DIY drones forums for advice about doing that.