Civic overheating issue.. need advice please

I have a 2004 Honda Civic with a 1.7 engine and she came with a horrible overheating issue. It runs fine driving it around time but long sit times especially after the highway is a major risk. We ideally want to replace the issue as it has the potential to be an amazing car.

We know its a head gasket issue, and replacing that ourselves is at least 250$ and comes with the risk of the block underneath being warped and it being a waste of money. We also considered replacing the engine itself but thats four times the amount of replacing the gasket.

If more info is needed I’m very ok sharing, but we need a solution that’ll be the most cost efficent and keep her running until we can afford a better car or so.

(We have called shops and got an estimate of 1500-3500$ as well.)