The experience of the Shuttle program demonstrated that taking off like a rocket and landing like a plane has a lot of problems that make it not as great as you might think. The wings, heat shield, etc are all pretty heavy - notice that the shuttle required two whole extra rockets and a disposable fuel tank to make it to orbit - and the heat shield required for landing like a plane turned out to be a huge problem (see: The Columbia Disaster).

Plus, it turns out that landing a rocket vertically is now possible. I'm not clear on if it's now possible thanks to advances in technology (particularly in automation) or if it's just that no one had tried it until now.