need to create a quick and dirty report application

I have a database with some customer information in it.  It contains the interest rate on their mortgage, how much they owe in principle, what their monthly payment is, etc., etc.

I want to create a quick and dirty VB application-- or maybe I don't need VB-- that only serves one purpose (for now anyway):

I want to generate a "newsletter" for my current and potential clients.  Let's call it "Rate Watch" or something.

Except this newsletter is going to catch their eye, because it is going to have a title like "The Ward Family Rate Watch".

I also want there to be a dynamically generated chart or graph of some sort, USA Today style, that applies to each respective reader's mortgage.

My first instinct is to do a simple mail merge with MS Word and MS Access.  However, although the other people that will be using it will definitely have Word on their computer, they won't all have Access.

(But VB6 can read Access data tables without the user of the .exe having Access, right?)

I have Crystal Reports, though I don't think it is necessary for what I am doing.  (Besides, I don't know how to use it for crap.)

I have MS Office professional and Visual Studio 6.0, but only know VB, nothing else.

I kind of need suggestions on how to tackle this, since I always seem to do it in a long, drawn-out manner.

It's probably far simpler than I think.