They both have their place, but the answer is usually liquid. Tabs, pucks, and granules all contain stabilizer. While you do need some stabilizer in the water, too much is a bad thing. Using "dry" forms of chlorine always adds stabilizer to your water. IIRC it's .9 parts stabilizer for every 1 part chlorine. The chlorine is consumed/used and the level drops, but the stabilizer level does not. As more pucks/tabs/bags are used, more stabilizer is added. The higher the level of stabilizer, the more chlorine your water needs to stay clean. Eventually the stabilizer level gets so high that it's impractical/impossible to maintain, and you will then end up with an algae bloom, even though you have a high chlorine reading. THIS is what I didn't know, and the pool store wouldn't or couldn't tell me. Once I found this site, it started to make sense. Once I started practicing what I read, it all fell into place.
I'm sure you've read this before, but read pool school, get a GOOD test kit, and you'll be on your way. If Mrs. Swim still needs to be convinced, show her my "swamp to sparkle" thread. It turned green because I wasn't able to keep up with it at the end of last year, I didn't close properly or cover the pool. Even with all that, I was able to turn the pool around fairly quickly a few weeks ago using mostly liquid bleach with just a little stabilizer toward the end.
Good luck and let us know what you decide on!
Edit: Think of it this way- the free chlorine is what's available in the water to fight the nasty stuff. This level has to be higher than the stabilizer level. If it isn't, you'll still show chlorine on a test, but it won't be able to do it's job. THIS is why it's important to know what your CYA level is. (CYA=cyanuric acid= stabilizer)