MPLS Alternatives?

My company's using a managed MPLS cloud to connect 9 branches to the Internet and to each other. The users on the individual LANs have mostly Macs (AppleTalk), though there are elements using Windows Server 2003 for DNS/Firewall/Security. It's terribly expensive to maintain the MPLS services, and I've heard about non-MPLS VPNs being a possible alternative at much lower a cost. We don't use VoIP at any of the branches, and we've just upgraded to fiber at two of the branches.

We're spending nearly $200,000 each year for this service. Is there a less expensive way to go? What if I were to set up nine VPN tunnels w/IPSEC instead? Would it necessary for me use MPLS on an internally managed WAN?