Any recommendation depends on your location - I wouldn't provide the same answer for Yuma, AZ as I might for Edmonton, AB.
When water vapor diffuses through a wall and reaches the exterior sheathing, if that sheathing temperature is below the dew point the vapor will condense. Depending on the amount of water vapor and the rate at which the wall cavity is able to dry out, this may lead to moisture problems.
Installing insulation in the wall cavity will help reduce heating costs, but won't address the problem of sheathing temperature. As a result, some builders are specifying 2" to 4" or more foil faced polyiso panels be installed outside of the sheathing to raise the temperature above the dew point. In these designs, some don't even advocate using cavity insulation. Vapor will still diffuse into the cavity, but it will not condense on the sheathing surface.
Installing foil faced polyiso on the interior of the wall, properly air sealed and with taped joints, forms an effective vapor barrier which will reduce the problem of moisture diffusing through the walls. However it may not solve all of the problems with vapor diffusion so it's quite possible to still have problems.
Additionally, while most people look to insulation as a primary solution for energy savings, often older homes would find greater benefit from air sealing. There is almost no way you can make an older house with plaster walls "too tight." In fact, the idea of houses being "too tight" is something of a myth. Your goal should be to have "managed ventilation" rather than the unmanaged ventilation common in older homes.
In my 1870's New England house as an "inside" solution I removed the plaster, installed fiberglass batt insulation in the cavities, applied 2" foil faced polyiso over the studs (for a thermal break and vapor barrier), with 1x3 furring strips and gypsum on top.
If it was me I would just paint the paneling it doesn't look that bad with at least 3 coats of paint. You can even fill in the grooves with wood filler or spackle.
There is several basement systems that use panels but to have it installed is very expensive and I have not been able to find the panels to buy.
Best Answer
Firstly, you may be able to source 54" drywall. Two sheets oriented in the usual horizontal way will cover a wall height up to 108" (9 ft) with one tape joint between them. The extra cost may be worth the effort savings.
If your framing is laid out accurately on 16" or 24" centers, 10' sheets would stand up (vertically) nicely. All tape joints would be vertical - none horizontal. The waste won't cost much.
Otherwise, it really comes down to where you want to work. The outcome will be the same regardless, since a well-done tape joint is more or less as strong as the sheet itself.
Normally you work top-down, so you'd have that joint near the floor. One benefit is that you have flat drywall where you'll install base trim instead of a tapered edge. The drawback is that you're taping a joint hunched over.
Pros will sometimes do narrow strips in the middle so they can tape both joints almost as a single joint, skimming it all out together. The drawback to that is that you're taping a flat (butt) joint, since one edge of the strip won't have a taper. That means a slightly thicker bulge in the wall. If it's done well it won't matter, though.