Questions for a newly acquired juniper

This week i decided to jump back into Bonsai and picked up a small juniper from a local garden center. Several years ago i had a beautiful juniper which i managed to keep healthy for just over 4 years. I got it from a local bonsai shop and it didn't need much pruning and wiring to get it into the shape i desired. This new juniper however, will need a lot of work. I got some good soil from a reputable local shop and a pot that i know is a bit large, but i prefer to gradually step it down to the proper sized pot. I repotted the tree and pruned probably right around 1/3 of the original mass of the tree. I didn't trim the root ball too much and it currently fills about 2/3 of the pot. The top is still extremely dense but i'm hesitant to take too much off right now combined with the shock of repotting. I plan to just pinch back the foliage for the rest of the spring and thin the top out properly in the fall when the fall shoots start forming. Next spring i should then be able to wire and prune it to the desired shape. My question is: Is my timeline too conservative or even too aggressive? I think from the pic, you can pretty much tell what the final shape will be. Does anyone see anything that needs to be taken care of immediately? I'm pretty confident in my ability to maintain the tree, i just don't have much experience with the shaping aspect because my previous tree was almost like i wanted it right out of the pot. Any comments or tips would be appreciated. Pic below:
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If it were mine which it's not. I'd have to look at removing the bottom four branches to gain some balance and trunk movement. Not a bad tree just needs a little work and time. If you go that route wire the rest of the branches down a little. Good Luck a little patience go's a long way.

after looking at it for a few more days, i think i was in too much of a hurry to have it in a pot. I think i'll let it adjust for a few weeks since i gave it a root trim, then i'll plant it outside in the garden. I agree that those bottom branches need to go but i have another question. Will leaving them on help the bottom of the trunk thicken once its in the ground or am i asking for ugly scars if i remove them in a couple years?