Bead blasting is pretty cheap, around $30-40, and (I'm assuming its a steel frame), gets rid of any rust problems.

Chemical stripping works, you can get a good finish, but I chemical stripped and painted my bike 2 or 3 times over the years and rust always came back in a couple of spots, until I had it bead blasted.

I will gladly pay the bucks for blasting to avoid the hassle of chemical stripping.