How can I make Gmail re-route all incoming mail to a specific folder except from addresses I "whitelist?"

Question

The problem is, I'm getting tons of marketing emails, newsletters, etc., and all of these companies share their email lists with their partners. Plus, my unsubscribe requests aren't always honored, despite what the confirmation page says. It makes it really hard to catch the emails I actually want to see.

What I want is to tell Gmail to 'skip the inbox' and send all email directly to a folder called 'incoming.' From that folder, I can identify the types of emails I want to see and have them go to my inbox. ...basically a reverse filter--a filter that includes email that meets my criteria instead of excluding it.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!