Flash is a great thing if you use it correctly. Use it for a purpose (example: flash communication server, ect.) just using it for eye candy will not achieve your goals.
Think about who you rule out - corporations that don't allow plugins or addons, including java (a great majority of people surf from work), 60+ % of people "
never" have access to broadband in the US (this includes at work).
Looks should never conflict with function - What are the goals of your site (to sell something or gather leads?), then screw flashy - stick to your goals.
There are tricks to getting flash pages placed higher but "load time" is always of first priority.
Here's an example:
Http://www.forextips.com gets 20 times the sales and leads this site does -
http://www.markettraders.com . markettraders.com has 85% of the visitors leave before the page loads.
Looks should NEVER get in the way of function - I told the company I would not change forextips, told them to go build a pretty site if they wanted that - they hired a webmonkey and produced a useless eyecandy site that looks great but only people referred to it go there and of those 85% leave.....
I saw the webmonkey that produced that worthless piece of crap bragging about it on his website......lol