Which plastic figures are you talking about. Historical?
Dragon, their Gen2 1:35 scale figures are fantastic, probably the best plastic figures out there.
There is Tamiya, MiniArt have some nice figures. All these figures blow anything GW puts out in plastic at about 2/3 the cost. A 5 figure set from Dragon will cost $18-$24.
For fantasy, other than the prepaint plastic from D&D or Rackham, there is not much plastic kits made.
Also, no you are not cheating yourself doing plastic, The minis are easy to cut and convert, you don't need a saw to cut minis like metal just a hobby knife.