New tacoma owner! Questions about lifts

Hey everyone! I'm a new tacoma owner and I have looked into some lift options. I am 19 and not looking to spend a ton of money on lifts so I do my best at trying to find cheaper alternatives to buying things on eBay and Craig'slist rather than straight from a dealer. So I have recently just became a brand new owner of a 2002 tacoma 2.7l 5spd and absolutely love it, so far I'm thinking of a 3" leveling kit, adding a leaf spring and maybe a 2-3" body lift. From reading a lot of lift threads already y'all have to be thinking I'm stupid for wanting to just do spacer lifts and that suspension lifts are the way to go, but honestly I don't have $1500 to blow on a lift and I live in coastal Carolina so the kinda of terrain I encounter is mud and sand so I shouldn't be doing any crawling or climbing. Please let me know how stupid I am and if it's even worth it, and if possible what is the largest size tire I can squeeze in. Thanks a lot and I really look forward to being a member here on TW!
P.S. Sorry for the long intro!