You can save alot if you do the prep yourself, that's where most of the cost comes in, especially with the rust. I got a nice 2 stage paintjob for $500, but I spent about 6mo worth of nights and weekends doing (and re-doing) bodywork and prep sanding. It's not that bad to figure out and you can reduce your costs drastically.

$1500 is a really good price assuming they do quality work and that includes the rust repair, that's about what they wanted when I took mine in for the initial estimate. If they're nice guys they will help you out too, I took mine back a couple of times to get them to check my bodywork and sanding and they gave me some tips.

Take a look at the MAACO post and also do a search, there have been a few paint/bodywork posts recently with lots of good info <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />