The VR is much cheaper to do but much more expensive to run. I personally would say go VR but that's cos I have one lol.
The 1.8T engine can now be had pretty cheap and if yr a whizz with wiring, then fitting is relatively easy and can be pretty cheap, I reckon you could do it for a £1500 if you have the know how.
You could do a VR for about £500.
If you are wanting to break the 200bhp barrier then forget the VR unless you have about 2 grand knocking around to Turbo it.
The upside to the VR is, if you can use tools, you can do the conversion, also, it sounds f**king immense
