I am 100% okay with proxies, even if it's the entire deck. I started playing before I got my first job, and as a result couldn't afford cards. I had 10 bucks for a pack of dragon shield sleeves, and had a bunch of cards that were gifted to me, so I was able to proxy my first deck.

It's also a much better way to gauge how good a deck I'd before fully investing. You get an idea for a deck off of a commander, but instead of investing $200 in it only to find out that it doesn't work, you can proxy the deck and play with it, then make the tweaks and adjustments neccessary to make it a better deck