Working without plugins support is not a option for me. We have to always try use the most productive environment and if we can't do it due licenses cost, it's time to analyze the platform.
*Based off your claim that a developer is 10 to 20k and assuming USD I converted the prices from here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/pt-br/subscriptions/buy.aspx
Note retail can be cheaper, but you don't get MSDN with it.