Why negotiate debt over Chapter 7 or 13 protection

I hope there are lots of responders to this post. I'd like to know also. Ideally, I would prefer settlement since it would probably cost less (in our case). However, there are tax concerns, possible lawsuits, etc. that scare me.

We can't do a Chapter 7 so would need to do a 13. When I did on online means test, it appeared we would likely be paying almost 100% back to our creditors for a large monthly fee. I don't mind paying them back, after all, we did incur the debt. But there will be no wiggle room until we're done. We have one in college, one almost there, and two in daycare. But we'd be safe from lawsuits.

I really don't care anymore about a credit score but from what I understand, your score begins to recover faster with settlement. In a Chapter 13, it stays on your credit report for seven years from the day you file. So, if we had a 5 year payment plan, the Chap 13 is noted on our report for two more years once we're done paying.