I'm a newby here so you can take this for what you think it's worth. Why not do both? Or actually, what I mean is, instead of buying a new fork, upgrade the one you have. I put a total air cartridge system by EKO in my judy TT, and it works beautifully. The weight went down and the performance went up. I don't know if it will take HUGE hits, but I weigh over 200 and 4 to 5 footers are no problem (I jumped off the loading dock at work to see) and it was only about a C-note. That way you will still have enough cash to get a nice set of brakes. That's what I'm planning, Avid disc up front, single digit 7 rear, single digit 7 levers.
Of course, if the road bike didn't eat up so much of my bike budget, Hopes and and a SID race would be the ticket.

Maybe next year?

Noloft