Engine or head replacement

Good morning: Me again about my sons car. He is on limited budget and credit after going through a divorce and we are still deciding on his vehicle. One scenario is to replace the head and hope the rest of the engine was not affected by all the little parts laying in the head that I found, another one is doing a full engine. Price difference is not really that much of a difference, of course the labor for us is, lol. The car is in really good condition. The motor I found on Car Planet $1,149.00 has 74,000 on it. Your thoughts. Thanks again Mark