My view, as a lifelong dog owner and former vet nurse, is that you go with the vet's recommendation re vaccination. I never saw an animal die as a result of being vaccinated, but I saw unvaccinated animals die and I certainly wouldn't wish that on any of my dogs or cats.
I don't believe that there is 'over-vaccination': in fact, when testing shows that a vaccine confers immunity for longer than previously thought, the vaccinations are changed accordingly. Kennel cough, for instance, used to be done 6 monthly but it is now given annually.
If you are considering not vaccinating your new puppy (which I would consider very irresponsible tbh) then remember that most boarding kennels won't take dogs without up-to-date vaccinations, and several training classes do the same. You might also want to google what a puppy dying of parvo looks like.
Re Hills - plenty of good, complete dried foods out there, of which Hills is just one. Hills has had some bad press (along with most other big brands) re animal testing.
As for vets making money from selling Hills food - yes, they do. They make money from everything they sell. They have to in order to cover their huge overheads. Many vets still manage to sell Hills (and other foods) cheaper than PAH and similar outlets.
I really hate the vet bashing threads that turn up on here, about how much money vets rip owners off for and all the unnecessary work they do on animals. I can honestly say I never saw any evidence of that in practice.
If you don't trust your vet then find another one that you do.