At this point in your sailing career, i.e., as a beginner, I think you'd do well to not spend money converting the rig and spend time getting to know the boat and how to sail in general. It would also be good if you could crew on some other people's boats. You may or may not gravitate toward racing, but crewing on a racing boat is a way to pick up lots of pointers on sail trim and sailing in general that would transfer over to any kind of sailing you might want to do. It would be a way to increase your skill set in a relatively short amount of time vs. trying to figure out stuff by yourself or posting questions on a sailing forum (not that there's anything wrong with sailing fora!
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Yes, there are some potential advantages to a cutter rig for balancing the boat in heavy weather. But at this stage you aren't going to be crossing oceans with that boat (though the Flicka is capable of it), and none of the sailing you will be doing is going to require this sort of rig modification.
You've got a very stout, seaworthy vessel. I'd say you should learn its capabilities and also develop your own so you can more prudently direct your financial resources toward upgrades from which you will truly reap benefits at this stage.
If your sails are tired then I agree with others who have said buying new sails would be a great thing. You will realize an immediate benefit from that. But do it for your existing rig. I didn't notice whether you said yours are hank-on or on a furler, but roller furling is great if you don't have it. If you really want to splurge, get a mainsail stack pack with lazy jacks. I single hand almost exclusively and the stack pack is a wonderful addition because I can stow the main effortlessly and minimize the time I'm on the deck wrestling with my main. Also, if you don't have an autopilot, invest in one of those. Your boat is tiller steered and so you might consider a Pelagic, which is much more robust than the more common Raymarine.
And so forth. You get the idea. My point is that modifying the rig on that boat would be pretty far down my list of spending priorities, and at this stage you are still figuring things out. So leave the more exotic modifications for later, if ever, once you have more experience under your belt.
