I totally agree. As good as the VAT sounds in theory, as others have noted in this thread without a Constitutional amendment repealing the amendment that gave us the income tax it's too big a risk of winding up with both a VAT and an income tax.
I'm all for something like the NRST, but it can't be sold to the American people. Impossible. Far too much room for rhetoric to kill the issue entirely. A flat tax is unlikely, but at least it's doable. And if done correctly, the IRS could be pared down to virtually nothing.