It seems like a viable option, but I'm in the same situation, and I'd much rather pay the fee to have the screen repaired.
Besides the fact that the screen quality won't nearly be as good, plastic will show scratches much easier. While the glass of the iPhone can be cracked, it's virtually impervious to scratches from my experience.
my girlfirend knocked it off her dresser then a metal rod fell into the screen😱😱😱😱 mine is till good tho
and the funny thing is when she was showing me what hit her phone when i got home for work she accidently hit my 24imac with the metal rod😡😡😡 i almost lost it !!!!