AHA!

You want to simplify?  Really simplify?  Well, I guess you COULD go brakeless, or fixed.  But that is quite a commitment.  Want to keep your bars as empty as possible, realistically?  (Calm down 63xc fans, I know some people can go fixed offroad....)  Check THIS out:

 

Yep- that's a brake lever that pulls 2 cables.  Made only for V-brakes.  You can even get them so that the rear brake pulls slightly before the front brake.  And for either hand!  (which really just means holes for the cables hidden on the bottom whichever side you want to put it on).  Or, you could use cable discs, and run both a V-brake AND a disc brake on each wheel!  ULTIMATE BRAKING POWER!!!  :)

I'm sure you can get these other places, but the only one I know of offhand, the place that I saw them, is Rivendell Bicycle Works.  As their owner Grant Petersen often says (and I agree with him) you should always buy from the one who introduced you to an idea if you can.  

So, if this provokes an AHA! moment, there ya go.