HELP0... which direction is better?

Personally, i wouldn't fix up a rust bucket unless it was a very rare car.
You will pay way more than the value of the car after it's finished in rust repair alone.
Are you doing it for resale or as an investment, or are you doing it to have something cool to drive and don't care about what it costs? Can you do the work yourself? Do you have the time and the facility to restore it properly? Are you sure that the roof isn't rusty under the vinyl anyway?
I would start pricing out all of the sheet metal it needs and then price out a rust free car shell and go from there.
I doubt that it's worth it, but that's me.
Pictures would go a long way here.......