I wouldn't get a triple in Florida (and I happen to be a triple fan). That is an important consideration.
I'm hoping that if the compact is on the more expensive bike, you can afford it without hardship because that's an important decision factor and worth the extra money for several reasons (1, the bike will work better, and 2 the components are more expensive and therfore are fairly valued). I'm also hoping that if it's on the cheaper bike, that you don't think you're missing anything functionally because they'll both work really well for you.
Functionally, as a new rider, you'd never notice a functional difference between any of the components you're talking about. But that doesn't mean the price difference isn't real in the marketplace or that one is a better "value" than the other. They're probably equal "value" in terms of the market price of the parts.
But as someone said early in the thread, the wheels are also an important value adder/reducer. It's not only Ultegra/105 vs 105/Tiagra. That alone, on paper, might be worth $400, maybe not (I'm not all that well versed in the prices of the components). However, if the Ultegra/105 bike has better wheels (fairly likely) that could be worth an additional couple hundred in value.
But look at the crank - that's the most important difference.
Hope this helps.