The 'cottage cheese' look is usually a combination of joint compound and cellulose (recycled newspaper), I have seen a few older textures that had some fiberglass in them too.... you can do this yourself.
If the test actually shows it to contain asbestos... then you are going to have to hire a haz/mat removal crew to remove the product and dispose of it. This is state law in most areas. You cannot do it yourself, and you cannot just toss it into trash bags to go to your local dump. (IF IT actually is asbestos...it might be less costly to install new drywall right over it - check your prices - or... to pull the drywall down intact, rather than scraping it off... be quicker for the haz/mat crew to do that)
Asbestos is found in some really old 'drop in' ceiling tile panels, like you would find in public buildings, but most often, it would be found more commonly in pipe insulating wrap, some other forms of really old insulation, and in exterior tile siding. In cases like the insulating wrap, and tile siding... it is easier to go over the asbestos, than to remove it. As long as the asbestos is 'encased' in something, it is safe. It becomes a hazard when it becomes airborne as dust particles.
Removing any ceiling texture is a dirty job... it creates a lot of dust in the air, and is a mess to clean up. My first suggestion is to remove the furniture, and cover everything with plastic. Put plastic over the doors and windows....even over the walls... it makes the clean up, so much easier. Many of the building supply stores carry disposable jumpsuits (or pants and jackets) for painting, etc... buy a few.. they really help... and don't forget a good quality dust mask, or respirator, and safety glasses (if you dont get a full face respirator) I use a half face (2 cartridge) respirator myself for jobs like this.
I like to use a floor scraper to scrape the texture.... looks kinda like a garden hoe, with the blade straight out from the handle, instead of bent 90 degrees like the garden hoe. This lets me reach the ceiling without a ladder. If you spray the texture just a bit, (water) it will help keep the dust down, and the texture scrapes off a bit easier when dampened.
Once the old texture is off, then you can repair the surface as needed. (Perhaps fill in any spots with joint compound if needed, or do some sanding) Then you are ready to either spray on a new texture, or prime and paint. If you are going to spray on a texture, prime it afterwards.
By the way.... you mention cracks in the old texture... if the spray texture mixture is too wet, it will develop a lot of tiny cracks in it as it dries.... if you meant to say that you have some long cracks, these are caused by the drywall joint shifting. You might need to shoot a few drywall screws into the ceiling to secure the panels, before mudding. If your drywall was installed with nails, and you have nails backing out... I would recommend that you shoot some screws into the stud, and then go ahead and pull the nail, so you wont have a problem with it backing out again in a year or so. Also, with long cracks, you may need to use a little 'drywall tape'... for ceiling repairs, I like to use a 'mesh' tape. It is a little sticky on one side, which makes it easy to use on ceilings, and you apply the new joint compound (aka mud) right over it.
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