My suggestion would be this..
Spend you $500 +/- and do all of the maintenance things you can to bring it up to minimum stock nazi snuff.
By that I mean.
Full tune up:- New wires (Suggest NGK or Stock Motorcraft)
- Proper gapped plugs (again NGK or Stock Motorcraft)
If the truck is over 10-12 years old, replace ALL hoses and of course belts
If you haven't made a switch to a synthetic oil, another suggestion.. do it. I've tried many, in all my Fords I've either ran Valvoline or Mobile 1. Stay away from Castrol in that inline 4, I know my 95 Escort didnt like it especially after I modded the shit out of that engine. It was almost too thin like, and with the additional throttle response made me concern of an over rev condition and that E/M had ZERO limiter on the throttle. It would REV until it popped if you let it.
Take care of all leaks, gasket issues. Flush the rad, replace with 50/50 mix, consider using water wetter from Redline, or Mishimoto makes a very good coolant additive for keeping under hood temps down.
Unclog the I/M, K&N in the factory airbox, up to you whether the drone of removing the silencer tickles your ego fancy for a little meandering growl the 2.3 Lima can muster.
Go through everything, O2 sensors to CAT. You can do any aftermarket can for a muffler, For that truck I'd suggest a Dynomax Ultra flow, have someone weld you up a pipe straight off the CAT with a flange So you can replace the CAT-back if need be. Put the muffler where it belongs and tucked higher as possible and just to a turn down at or just past the axle. Should breath a little better now that it will be uncorked.
Now by this time if the truck doesn't feel a little lighter on its feet, smoother, a little more aggressive, and you havent been wasting all of your money feeding the tank and wasting gas in stop light to stop light testicular moments.
Now you start working on the suspension efforts. Doesnt matter if you lift or lower, whatever your style. The key thing here is that it wont EVER matter (much) if you put 400hp or every ounce of that 112hp under the hood.. If the suspension isnt set up right you'll never get that power to the ground. Yoiu can kick any pig in the ass and it will squeal, (just like a tire).
Depending on which direction you plan on going will set an outline for further needs whether that be full suspension upgrades to re-gearing and if you stay street or like to play in the dirt/camping.
If you want additional suggestions or options, The open forum here once they see the lead direction you're going the appropriate people will respond with helpful or useful information for you to either use, or further research as it seems no two vehicles are ever exactly alike. Each has there own issues and paths.
If I CAN help you further, PM me