Upgrade to VS/2 speed or repair old pump?

I'm a brand new pool owner. I have a 1.5 HP Hayward pump that was recently shorted out. I have an apointment to drop it off for repair today. Probably cost $100-$125 to repair it or another option is to get a replacement motor for around $225

I really like the idea of the VS motor since we don't have a pool cover and would like to run our filter year round to keep the water clear.

I have two 30amp breakers coming in from the main to the pool then at the pool there are 2 15 amp breakers. One to a booster pump and the pool light (booster pump no longer in service) and the other dedicated to the filter pump.

I'm guessing it's a 110v, all the VS I'm seen are 220. The wires are I believe to be 12 AWG coming in from the mains. Can I convert this to a 220 w/o running a new wire?

Are the VS pumps worth it? I read a lot of reliability issues with these VS pumps so I'm kind of shy away from it.