Well I can't say my setup is a "best bang for the buck" setup but I do have to say that improving my lighting/magnification has greatly helped me even with 20/20 vision in my late 40's.

I purchased a 70 watt Bluemax desk lamp from full spectrum solutions http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com...esk_18_ctg.htm which has definitely helped me. As you can see, not cheap but it's full spectrum light so you get a natural color look to your flies. I think the Ott lights are also in this category but I liked the added brightness of this light plus it has a dial to adjust brightness.

I also picked up a set of mag-eyes http://www.mageyes.com/Hobby.htm to magnify my flies. I found these on Ebay fairly inexpensive.

I guess I didn't trust "cheaper" alternatives as I didn't want to strain my eyesight to see especially on small flies.

As for the perfect fly - no such thing.

Good luck.