Headset vs headphones question and issues

I really dont want to use headphones and i would like a headset but for some reason last time i bought a headset i was unable (through steam and tf2) to set the voice to come through the headset without all the volume of the game ending up in the one ear piece :-( it was a plantronics headset and after a couple of hours of unsuccesful trial and error, and intense googling i was unable to resolve. So i took the set back to walmart :-(

I must admit i recently moved over from xbox 360 because i finally got a good enough build to game on. Is there a way to have a headset setup like with xbox live? Dont mean to be a newb, just askin lol.

If there is what headsets are good? and if you must you a headphone with a communicator built in for whatever reason, what kind do you use/suggest6?