I went to Budget Brakes yesterday to get my brakes checked yesterday. I replaced the pads and rotors since both were under legal standards, and it came out to just over $300 (also got my drums cleaned, but they offered it free with a coupon).
One thing they also found was the master cylinder, which they said was prone to fail. The technician showed me the dried brake fluid around the master cylinder, but never explained anything else about my car (he claimed it was a common issue on Taurus; he had a '96 with the same problem) other than the symptoms of a bad master cylinder (spongy pedal,