Of course UCLA is a better school, and of course LA is a SoCal major city, which even a liberal college town like Tuscaloosa can’t claim (… and in Alabama to boot, some might add…). However, as stated in the first post, UCLA is not affordable for OP without large loans. In addition, at UCLA, OP will be lost in large lecture halls for most of his/her undergraduate years, will not have access to an adviser, will be in discussion sections with 30-40 people. UCLA may be a great value for instate students (and would be a better value if the UCs were funded better because right now lecture halls are packed/ over capacity, everything is impacted, etc.) and it would be perfect for a grad student, but at 55K+ per year OOS for a student who would need to take loans, it’s not worth that cost.
To give you concrete examples with common freshman classes as well as some advanced classes (to show that the budget problems mean that not only are freshman classes large, which is common outside of honors colleges at large state universities, but also advanced classes, which is less common):
The intro to economics classes at UCLA have 325-350 students, an advanced class such as econometrics has 388, introduction to game theory has 58. Organic Chemistry has 235 or 260 students. Intro to Computer Science, 315. History of Western Civilization 1B has 420 students, History of Western Civilization 1C has 120 students. History of Modern Britain, an advanced course for majors, has 60 students. American Popular culture has 120. Introduction to Psychology has 225 or 300.
Honors students at UAlabama would have the intro to economics class in a group of 30-32. Econometrics has 24 students. Game theory has 43 students. Organic chemistry is similar in size with 212 students, but then there’s a special honors lab section. Intro to CS has 75 students; Honors history of Western Civ I or II: 25 students; I couldn’t find History of Modern Britain but there was another advanced course titled History of the British Empire: 15 students; Honors intro psychology has 45 students.
The learning environment is not the same when you are part of an Honors College. First, OP would have at least one personal adviser - a person picked because they want to mentor and nurture these top students. That makes a huge difference in terms of personalization of the university experience, in being made aware of opportunities, etc. As an honors student, you get priority registration - not only can’t you be “shut out” of a class, but you can also choose the hour that suits you best or the best professor. You have special classes that are dynamic and interactive. You have special access to a lot of opportunities that just aren’t available if you’re a regular student, be it at UCLA or any other large public university that has grad students (grad students get dibs, then Honors Students. The other students don’t get to do “meaningful” work in the lab.)
That’s why, prestige or not, UCLA is not worth so much more money, especially not if OP needs extra loans, and that’s also why I’m not convinced at all that the experience will be better at UCLA.
Note that I’m not in any way affiliated with either the UCs nor UAlabama (or Alabama in general).