Cash Tournaments vs. Satellite Tournaments

[NYCNative]

I play online multi-table tournaments with $5-30 buy-ins and do okay at them for the most part - have had a few big cashes that have kept me up during slow runs of cash games and SNGs.

Until now I have played in the winners-get-dinero tournaments. However after winning a seat to the WSOP for a buddy of mine in a free roll (long story), now I am starting to wonder if it would make more sense to go for the multi-table satellites where winning gets me a seat into a bigger tournament with more money to win.

On one hand, there's obviously potential for more cash. On the other, winning a tournament and making my way through several hundred people would mean nothing if I don't do well in the bigger games I qualify for.

What do people here choose to do and why? How much luck have you had when you made a shift from one mindset to another?