You need to approach the problem logically.... First you need to figure out where the stations are that you are interested in.... Determine what you will need to do to get them....
http://www.tvfool.com/modeling/
TVFool has a neat tool that shows the direction stations are.... and the effects height may have on your attempt. The finished data for your location shows a basic look at the quality of signal you should be receiving.... But take it with a grain of salt, The VHF channels I get here travel much better than UHF, and as a result, there are VHF chennels showing up on the data as being of porrer signal than UHF ones, but I get the V's, but not the U's....
From that, you can determine what type of setup you are looking at... Bowtie, VHF only, or Combo, Deep Fringe, or just a local smaller antenna...
With rabbitears.info
http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php You can see from coverage maps also what level of signal you are likely to get.....
If you have found you need some type of booster, get a good one, with lowest noise figure, this is the biggest problem with digital reception. Do you need a boost on UHF but not VHF, chose well, or get seperate boosters, combiners and maybe an attenuator....
Attenuating stations that are too strong can be as easy as how you point the antanna. We have 2 overpowering stations in the area, but luckily I get them as they are 90 degrees away from the City, so with a deep fringe directional antenna pointed where I get the best of the city, and away from those super-strong stations, I still use a preamp, and distribution amp, and nothing is overpowered.
Since you will be using the attic, you can if you need to, put up signal blocker in the form of foil if you need it....
Pick the best antenna and do seperate antennas if needed, use combiners if you need 2 fixed antennas pointing in 2 different directions.... Or use a antenna pointer, and turn it as necessary.
Even if it costs you $400. It will be a one time investment, not monthly. I think I spent that much over a few months, and that was it, back in 2009....
And now that most of the DTV conversion os over, antenna prices are coming back to earth....
You will need to do some learning.... Pay attention to Antenna Fool's report, especially where it says something like "Real channel" not Virtual channel, the actual channel frequency will tell you the band its on, Vhf, or UHF, and from that make your antenna decision...
Good luck.
PS, when I was at college I used a distribution amp with rebbit ears in a closet down the hall from my dorm room and got all the city stations fine, in what others called "the dead half of the dorm" because it was metal, and blocked almost all tv signals.... (70 miles from the city, Analog days) So if you get some tv with minimal entenna, then put a minimal antenna in the attic, and use a low noise distribution amp to feed your tv's Could be quite inexpensive...