Don't go too low with your first gear. I have a 2.95 first gear with a 3.08 rear and it seems perfect to me. I read somewhere that 9 is the magic number (low gear x rear ratio) and this combo comes in at 9.086.
My driving "style" sounds exactly like yours and when I made the swap I went with a t-5 out of a third gen Firebird. People were quick to mention that they could "blow it up without even trying" and that was ten years ago. It is still hanging in there just fine. At 75 on the Interstate it is happy as a clam at a little over 2k rpms.