You might want to check out Douglasville, on the west side of the ATL. You'll want to stay south of I-20 along either Chapel Hill Road or Highway 5. Housing is much cheaper than most other areas around ATL and schools are OK, especially if you stay in the south part of the county. Good thing is you can take back roads all the way to the airport. Will never have to get on an interstate!
D'ville has the only Mall on the west side of ATL, all the big box stores and lots of restaurant choices. It is relatively undiscovered by the airline community probably because it doesn't have golf carts like PTC.
Traffic is never an issue except for the 6 weeks before Christmas around the mall.