With 4.5" of lift, you will definately need either drop brackets and new arms or long arms. I did the drop bracket on my 97 and am going long arm (Froehlich) as cost wise they are about the same my set up is running around $950 shipped. Drop brackets with arms will run not much less.
It is the static angle of the control arms that determines ride quality. In an ideal world, they would be perfectly flat i.e. 0 degrees. At this angle, the arms are free to move up or down without binding as they are in a neutral (centered) position relative to vertical travel. This only happens with stock suspension. As the suspension cycles on a lifted short arm, the control arms resist moving in the up direction as they are below center. This means that the axle has to move foward quite a bit as it cycles which binds the suspension. By going with LA's, you gain not only articulation, but a much better over all control arm angle without dangling a pair of rock catchers (the brackets...) off the bottom of the uniframe.
Individual choice. I am spending the extra even though I am on Social Security (Yah, I'm an old guy) because I feel that it is worth it.