bearings are always changed with the rods. not doing so is asking for trouble.
a new crank is not worth the money. the $700 crank you speak of is a cast crank, exactly like the one you have. now balancing, blueprinting, and shotpeening the crank you have to increase spinnability and strength would be the best course of action. don't knife edge it... it weakens the assembly, negating most of the gains with fragility.
JE, SRP, or Arias pistons would be the best direction to take, and usually come with rings. if you plan to go turbo, you may be interested in going with a lower compression ratio piston to handle higher boost pressures safely. realise that if you do this, you'll lose a lot of power until you install the turbo system.
also consider at least a blockguard, but ductile iron sleeves would be the best route for strengthening the bottom end.
conrods from eagle or crower are a good way to go.