Welcome to segment qualifying. I have made 1K the last eleven years on segments (all domestic). Just got harder for top level but see what you travel patterns turn out to be and reassess. Economy Plus is worth working for if you ever want to be able to open your laptop on a domestic flight.
One note - could be wrong but pretty sure that segment credit is based on flight number. I seem to remember flying from BNA-SEA connecting in DEN, but only got credit for one flight segment as the flights were listed as one flight number with a connection.
I believe this is true even if you actually change to a different plane. Same flight number means only one segment credit.
Random example is flight #386 SEA to BOS coming up on 9/26. One flight number but a connection with plane change in Denver. I think it still only counts as one segment (EQS)
If you plan on qualifying based solely on segments you may want to consider booking flights where each segment has a separate flight# so you get credit for each segment flown.
Safe Travels