To Paint or Simply Restore?

My latest find last week was worth the 1 hour drive in the pouring, freezing rain on a Sunday afternoon. Found for a mere $60 for the entire set, the dining room table and chairs was well loved and kept in the same family for three generations, but has more recently found itself in a musty basement of an old house for quite some time.

As soon as I saw the chairs on Craigslist, I was in love. They are sturdy, but need A LOT of work. There is about 1 inch or dirt built up from decades of neglect. My research on the table/chairs finds that the set is a Hoosier table/chair dating back to 1931. It sold for about $38 back then, which was pretty pricey in the middle of the Depression. I am trying to decide what I should do with the set. I was originally all about painting it, but it may be worth a lot of money, so perhaps I should just restore it to its original condition? One antique store owner said it could be worth anything from a few hundred dollars to $1,000. Nice return on investment if I do say so myself! If you have an opinion, please let me know~