SEO is a crap-shoot. Even if you spent a boatload of money and time and got ranked today, it could all be gone tomorrow with a single Google algorithm change (they make HUNDREDS of algorithm changes every year!). In the end you're giving up all control of your traffic source to Google, and you're becoming dependent on Google for your livelihood. NOT a smart move in my opinion.
You'd be better off spending your advertising budget on Adwords. At least then you could have a MEASURABLE and GUARANTEED traffic source that is 100% guaranteed to be there tomorrow.
We spent tens of thousands of dollars on SEO. We got ranked #1-#3 for ALL major keywords. It was great for about 5 months. Then it all went to crap. Google changed their algorithm and totally screwed us. We still rank, but are more like #7-#15, and we all know that 90% of people click on link #1, 2, or 3. Almost no one scrolls down to further results, and going to the second page is almost unheard of. Our traffic plummeted over 98% OVERNIGHT.
As for spammy backlink BS, don't do it. It's more likely to get your site penalized by Google so there is ZERO chance of you ever ranking for anything, not even your own business name! Talk about the shame of all shames. People Google your business name and your competitors come up. NOT GOOD.