Forget the balloon, it looks stupid IMO.. Those days are over.
If you have any extra money to spend, spend it on the chest protector..
I wear this one
http://www.baseballequipment.com/A3209.php
but dont recommend it as it wears a little on the neck.
For 12U I will wear a standard cheapie umpire chest protector I got off ebay for 25 bucks or so.