I used to hang siding in my younger years. Mostly vinyl, but I did everything. Did entire houses. Siding, soffit, facia, and guttering.
Each has their benefits. Each has their drawbacks.
If you're worried about cost, go with good vinyl.
If you want the best and have money to spend on it, go fiber cement.
Vinyl is the easiest to own. Usually the cheapest. Easier to install. You can replace sections if you damage anything. You don't have to take all the siding off to get to the damaged piece, you can pop one piece off, replace it, and put the new one on. You get what you pay for though. If you go vinyl, I would highly recommend getting the better quality stuff. Cheap vinyl isn't worth it at all. Builder grade cheap vinyl gives vinyl siding a very bad name. But the higher quality stuff is 100X better. If you go vinyl, get the good stuff or you'll be sorry. Vinyl is actually pretty durable outside of really cold weather. It's pretty brittle when cold, but in warm weather it's very very tough.
Fiber cement is expensive. And it's a real hassle to install, so you usually pay more in labor. Usually takes 2 guys to handle it. But it's very durable and lasts forever. You can get it ready to paint, or have it prefinished. Prefinished is the way to go unless you actually want to paint it yourself and save a ton of money. If you paint it yourself, you'll have to reapply it down the road. It's not easy to replace if you damage a section though. Fiber cement isn't usually a very good insulator, unless it's the think expensive stuff. Be sure they put down the insulation layer underneath.
I got all mine from Certainteed. They offer both vinyl and fiber cement.
http://www.certainteed.com/products/siding
I don't think I'd recommend steel or aluminum.
Either way, ensure that the installer does a good job with the insulation underneath the siding. That's a key step that makes a world of difference. Don't let them get lazy with the insulation underneath, because they often do. That step is easily overlooked if you're not watching them closely, and poor insulation underneath can create a whole host of problems.
There are a lot of shitty siding outfits out there. I don't know much about the ones around KC, as I hung siding mostly in KS and NB.... But watch them close, I've seen a lot of folks get screwed over by shoddy installers.