I think the number of calories depends on height as well as weight. But 1500 is a perfectly reasonable place to start--not everyone can lose on 1900 and your current weight isn't all that high (particularly depending on where you want to wind up). You also might never plateau--I never have. If you find yourself losing more than 2lb a week on 1500, you can inch up a little bit.
Calorie counting takes some experimenting to figure out a distribution that works for you. There's no set way that will work for everyone. You could start with something simple and straightforward like B-300, L-400, D-500 plus some 100 cal snacks throughout the day and see how that works for you. More important, in my opinion, is how you use your calories. Try to get most of your cals from nice veggies with tons of volume, and lean proteins that will help you to stay full. Starches should be kept at a minimum and when you do eat something like bread or rice, opt for the high-fiber alternative, because they help you to stay full for longer.
Exercise is SUPER important! The idea with calorie counting is that you want to create a nice big calorie deficit to lose weight. The general principle is that if you create a 500 calorie deficit each day, you should lose 1lb a week, if you create a 1000 cal deficit, you should lose 2lb a week (on the basis that 1lb = 3500 cals). But it's quite difficult (and not always wise) to cut back on 1000 calories of food each day, so you can make a bigger deficit through exercise. It speeds up the weight loss AND will make you feel better in the long run. Depending on your level of fitness, you can start with simple walks, or you can join a gym and start using an elliptical or something like that. But try to do at least 30 mins of exercise 5 days a week, depending on what is appropriate for your current fitness levels.
Good luck!
