I need to equalize a text phrase with a numeric value

So what I need is to make a neat-looking salary-counting spreadsheet, which doesn't show the numeric value in its cells but instead text values. To be specific, my case is I'm a teacher and I have different groups which pay a different sum of money. So the way I imagine it is I somehow link the text and the numbers - i.e. Starters=1200, Movers=1700, Flyers=1700 etc, and when it comes to summing up the values, it can basically go as 'Starters+Movers+Flyers=4600'. I have no clue how to introduce variables in excel/gsheets though, and whether it's even possible.Thanks