Who told you that the Procomp Series 69 is an "entry level" wheel? They work as well as any other non-beadlock aluminum wheel. Many other popular aluminum wheels are made in China and/or Southeast Asia so country of origin is largely immaterial except on a political level.
Personally, I think most aluminum wheels look better than most steelies and although a Series 69 aluminum wheel is almost double the price of the Series 51 steelie as you noted, the actual dollar difference is quite small in the scheme of things. In unlikely event that you do manage to ruin one, both wheels you are considering are relatively inexpensive to replace.
As for the weight difference between steel and aluminum, a differential of 8# is not going to be significant and shouldn't tip the scale in one direction or the other.
I don't place much credence in overgeneralized admonitions to stay away from steel wheels if one intends to run on trails with any rocks. There have been many thousands of jeepers through the years who have used nothing but steel wheels on very tough trails without issue, and these jeepers outnumber the jeepers who have experienced heartache from theirs. For most jeepers steel vs. aluminum is not enough of an issue to be a critical factor in the final decision. Make your decision based upon the factors that are important to you and what best meets all of
your needs as opposed to the needs of the people giving you advice via the Internet.
Disclaimer: I own a set of Procomp 1069 16x8 aluminum wheels, which I am sure has an influence on the opinions expressed in this post. These wheels replaced a set of Procomp 6079 aluminum wheels with rock rings, installed by the previous owner, which had been in use since 2008 and were undamaged. The only difference between my new 1069's and the now discontinued 6079's are the rock rings. The only reason I replaced them was because I need wheels with a 5x5.5 lug pattern after converting to Yukon manual hubs.
Why did I choose Procomp Series 69 wheels over all the other choices for aluminum wheels?
1. I like the classic look of the 8-hole aluminum wheels on a TJ/LJ. The cast Series 69 wheel looks very similar to the old Alcoa forged aluminum wheels that were sought after by CJ owners, as it should because it is a clone of the subsequent Mickey Thompson 8-hole aluminum wheels that copied the Alcoas.
2. The Series 69 wheel is relatively cheap and what I call the modern day equivalent of the "cheap chrome rims" we used to use during the CJ era. (The formal name was "modular chrome wheel.") We would use them until they looked like crap then throw them away and buy more. My size Procomp Series 69 is currently only $106 each so I'm not going to lose any sleep over my wheels getting scratched up. If and when they do look like crap I'll give them away to someone in need and buy new ones.
3. The Procomp Series 69 is one of very few 16x8 wheels with a 5x5.5 lug pattern that has 4" backspacing. (This won't matter to OP.)
4. The Series 69 wheels look just like my old wheels sans the rock rings.
5. Did I mention that they are inexpensive?
6. Did I mention that they look good on my jeep?
The day they were installed:
Yesterday:
