Almost everyone in my unit had 14's in 2001, but the grenadiers and one of the riflemen initially got issued 7B's or 7D's. They were upgraded and like new, but still 7's. They didn't like 'em at all and fell a lot here in the forests (lots of broken teeth, noses and injured brows, and broken NODs, etc.). It's true, they KILL depth perception. You also lose any peripheral vision you had, and it's like looking at everything through a toilet paper tube six inches in front of you --again, with no depth perception at all.
The 14's take getting used to I think, but they become natural and you can keep them on your off eye so you can aim through the other. You still have depth perception, though it does play with it a bit, you get used to this. Having a dark eye also means if the NODs bloom, you aren't totally blind. Having the dark eye also helps pick up other details once your natural night vision is established.
And for the price? Yeah, either save for the 14's you want or just get the TNVC model, which is a good one to go with and a good company to deal with, just make sure that whatever you get from whoever you get it from that you get "hand select" and get a build sheet for the at least the tube. ITT factory units have build sheets for the tube and the unit (and are the only true ISO factory built and assembled devices) but again, get hand select. The ITT hand select Night Enforcer is what I got and it's actually a much better unit than the milspec one at a cheaper price. Get the option with the soft case instead and no skull crusher, mounts, bag, etc. The military issue junk SUCKS. The soft case TNVC offers is really nice and it brings the price down so you can use that money to get a much nicer dovetail mount from Norotos or Wilcox. Also, the Crye soft cap is a really comfortable piece of gear and a cheap way get started ($150 with shroud) and even though I have a $1000 helmet, I almost always use the soft cap now. So hand select NODs + quality mount + soft cap and you're good to go with the best gear for the best price IMO. If you take fire or jump out of planes, maybe look into one of the helmets, but they're just not as attractive to me now that I have that soft cap so get that first.
Good luck! Also, if you wait until Christmas, TNVC usually runs a really nice sale. It also gives you time to save some, research, make phone calls and pick out what you want.