@trackmbe3 That may be the difference. I gathered my impression of Honors by speaking with UMich advisors, students and obviously my kid, who’s a STEM major/minor. I don’t believe I’ve spoken with any Liberal Arts majors over the past year +. Everyone has been either had an Engineering, Business, Nursing or STEM focus. Also, monitoring the EA, EA Deferred and RD threads on CC, there was relatively little discussion of applying for honors. Some, but not a great amount, but that may be for the reason you mention (my sample size).
PasstheWine, it comes down to affordability. To most people, $150k is a lot of money. If that is the case here, OSU is the pragmatic and best choice. On the other hand, to some families, $150k is not a stretch and can be afforded with relative ease. If that is the case, then Michigan may be the better option.
Either way, OSU is an excellent university, so going there is certainly not going to deprive your son of an excellent education. No university is $140k better than OSU objectively speaking, unless money is no object! 
@PasstheWine Curious to know which school your son decided —and for the benefit of future students what was the decisive factor(s) that weighed most in the decision?