I find that pulling engine/transmission is much easier than crawling around underneath in lousy light, horsing around heavy objects that want to fall on body parts(mine!). A flywheel falling six inches can/will mangle you pretty badly, I have scars from such an encounter. Plus while the assembly is out, the car gets a good scrubbing in the engine bay/tunnel area.
Timewise it takes longer but I believe produces a better job overall. Quicker is not always best. Good luck,rcs