After the blasting, you would get it coated. The blasting will remove the rust, and you will be left with holes/pitting everywhere there was rust.
I would get it blasted and primed, because it is only going to cost a couple thousand as you are finding out. Then you can assess it further, and if you decide to sell the car, it would probably be beneficial to future buyers to have it already stripped so they can see what they are getting themselves into (also, you should be able to raise the price a little and get your money back for the blasting).