LED or halogen for recessed lights

LED lighting lacks the warm quality other lighting gives off. You'll want to consider the iluminesence along side the savings.

I prefer white light but not daylight lighting. Color temp around 3500k - 3700k are my ideal lighting color. Color temps in the 2000k range are yellowish (aka warm lighting) and temps in the 4000 & 5000 are blue whitish.

I like the white light that halogens give but as mentioned the heat is a big turn-off. Though I'm not sure about the range of color temps that are available for LEDs.

They have recessed LEDs that give off warm light also. Saw them in France and UK. There's no difference in light quality. If your contractor is only showing you those cold/white light ones, tell him to source from Europe.