It usually costs about half as much to fly from Syracuse vs Ottawa, unless you get a smokin' seat sale. Typically when I've priced out flights from Ottawa it comes in at $2200-2300 for the 4 of us. We've flown on Jetblue for as little as $800 return for all 4, taxes in.
We always go down the night before and stay at a hotel with a park and fly rate. We've stayed at BestWestern Airport Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Inn. They all have shuttles and they are all fine for overnight. If you drive down you are going to have to pay for airport parking anyway, for another $50 or so you can stay overnight and not have to worry about getting stuck in a line at the border.
OP, if that price includes taxes it is a fantastic price!