DSL Plus Land Line Phone vs DSL Plus Vonage

I need some advice from the experts here. To be more eligible for some freelance work-at-home assignments I need a highspeed internet connection. I rarely use the telephone except for emergencies and rare outgoing business calls for myself or for incoming out-of-state relatives calling me. I'm a neophyte when it comes to all the latest telephony and internet service. Have always used dial up telephone service for the internet. Never used broadband or cell phones or internet phones so I'm not sure if I'm comparing apples with apples or if an orange is thrown into the mix.

I am currently paying the following monthly fees and am looking for a way to replace them with DSL broadband and telephone for approximately the same or lesser monthly cost.

$35 (land-line local service only telephone and voice mail including taxes)
$26 for AOL using 56k dial up connection
$15 for personal website domain
$5 (approx. for long distance calling card)
-----
$81 per month


Option One:


Local phone company (Surewest) has DSL service with on demand internet connection and tells me I must also have local phone service to be able to use a telephone.

$40 for DSL ( including taxes and includes website and 3mb download speed if bundled with phone service, $55 if not bundled)

and a $100 startup cost (I'd need to spend $20 on a NIC card for my PC and they require I buy a Surewest modem for $60 plus pay a $20 activation fee.)

and I'd still need to pay for the $35 monthly phone service and $5 long distance calling card.

This would result in $90 a month to replace AOL and Website fees and retain landline phone service. I'd still need to buy long distance calling cards.


Option Two:

I would still need to acquire DSL service. Plus:

Vonage has internet phone service (DSL or cable broadband required). It does not require local phone service and I can keep my same phone number.

$19 month (including taxes and gives 500 minutes local and long distance service plus free phone adapter - but has $60 in start up costs plus requires a Vonage phone adapter for $79 with $70 rebate)


Summary:

Option One:

DSL for $40 month plus a $120 start up cost
Surewest Phone service for $40 and no other costs for local dialing only
and $5 a month for Long distance calling cards

Option Two:
DSL for $55 month plus a $120 start up cost
Vonage Internet phone for $20 a month plus $60 start-up cost and a $79 ($9 after rebate) phone adapter.



Questions:

1. Do I need both the Surewest Modem and the Vonage Phone Adapter? Is the Surewest DSL modem and the Vonage Phone Adapter serving the same function or is the phone adapter needed to act as a router between phone and computer?

2. Will Vonage Internet Phone reliably replace local land-line phone service?

3. Is there another configuration I haven't considered with approximately the same or lesser costs that will give me the needed highspeed internet service plus the ability to make emergency calls or receive incoming calls for the same or lesser cost?