I have built from kits, scratch built from plans and assembled less than ten ARFs and two ARCs. The most expensive method is scratch building followed by kit construction and than ARFs/ARCs. Your time building equates to a dollar amount don't overlook this when deciding what to purchase.
The quality of kits have been declining for the past twenty years mainly due to a decrease in high quality balsa wood. The airline and liquid petroleum industries buy almost the entire inventory of balsa wood available on a yearly bases. The last kit I purchased was from Dave Plate and it was excellent however costly.
Building from plans requires you to hand select all the wood that is used in the airframe construction. Due to the limited supply and grades selectable this becomes costly and time consuming.
Last but not least are ARFs/ARC. Normally you get what you pay for. It is my opinion that Carl Goldberg sells the best ARF on the market. It excells in construction, covering and flying attributes. All the other ARFs I have assembled could be rated poor or better. To sum it up, buyer beware.