Hi BOZ and welcome to the forum .
The problem you are facing is pretty common in discus keeping world .
Discus like it Bare , we discus keepers seems to be the only or should I say the lonely one that understand this need , and there is the rest of the world , that thinks that keeping a BB tank in your living room is insaine .
If you are willing for compromise with your wife the most important advantage for you would be to start with grown or at least semi adult discus 4-5 inch mark .That will make your chances for keeping healthy discus much bigger .
Also make the sandbed as thin as possible and pot the plants in little pots for easier moving around, during maintenance .
Choose the easiest plants for maintenance such as : Amazon sword , Java fern , Cryptocorine usteriniana , Hygrophilla corymbosa , Lotus etc.
You can also try and negotiate the half way compromise with your wife and go with the BB with potted plants look . That way you can have much cleaner tank while still having some greenery in it . This is how my tank is set up right now , as I'm raising juvies in it and I need BB to be able to maintain pristine water quality.
Here is how it looks , just for an idea :
IMG_20170327_073753.jpg
I wish you good luck with your first discus venture with whatever set up you choose.
Almost everything Is doable but the golden rules will always be the "simpler the better" and " the more stuff you put in your tank the harder it gets " .