An interesting topic you have there.
In Sil it says that the valar could choose whether to be without a form or pick an appearance of a male or female - or an appearance that came from their own thoughts. It also says that when the valar were without a form, even the Elves couldn't see them clearly, and that makes me assume that other races didn't possibly perceive even that much.
Now, I could imagine that when interacting with the people in Middle-earth, having a body was only practical. I don't know if it was easy to sense the presence of a vala or maia if it didn't have a visible form, and apparently it wasn't quite clear who they really were even when they had a body - take Gandalf, for example, or Sauron in his pretty form. But surely it's easier to suck up to important characters or boss people around if they can see you.
When Melkor saw that the valar were happy and blessed in their visible bodies and they enjoyed what Middle-earth had to offer, he became jealous and took a form, too. And if Melkor had a body, it seems natural that Sauron mimicked him and took one as well.
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Why would a spiritual being want to confine his power to a Ring, or any other material object?
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Maybe putting his powers into the Ring wasn't so much a purpose than an inevitable consequence. Again, using the Sil as a source, it says that Sauron didn't like the Elves (well, duh) and he was afraid of the Númenoreans who occasionally dropped by in Middle-Earth. He wanted to have power over all the other rings and therefore the amount of power that he put in the One Ring had to be superior to the other rings, too. Could there have been some other way to rule the other rings, then? That I don't know.
edit: cross-posted with Raynor.