On startup, if the user hasn't done any setting of NSUserDefaults, I want my main view to do a flipside view that brings up the same stuff that shows up in the Settings app.
Is there an API for instantiating the same controller that Settings uses, or will I have to reimplement a table view and controller myself?
You have to code the ui elements yourself if you wish to make the perferences available within your app. The utility template in xcode gives you a starting point by making a flipview available.
This website hosts the 'MySettings' API which is a nice toolkit that encapsulates various Settings features (switches, choices, etc) all in a declarative (plist-based) API.
Check out Craig Hockenberry's Generic Table Views, which make it really easy to set up a Settings-like table view.