Well I took the jump and went for it.
$15 handlebars from Nashbar, $17 Tektro MT2.1s (I have Avid road discs, so I needed levers that would work) and I won an auction on ebay last night for some SRAM attack Gripshift shifters for $20 that also included cables. I have some spare tape and brake cables, so I should be good to try this out. I ended up spending about $65 in total including shipping for a conversion, not too bad.
Hopefully I'll still be able to fit my handlebar bag, if I can't I'll just keep the drops and use the parts else where as I find the front bag too essential for me.