Steve should determine, or have his mechanic measure using a micrometer, the thickness of his rotors first. The front rotors should be at least 0.889" if they are to be resurfaced. Otherwise, they should be thrown away. The rears need to be a minimum of 0.299". What may provide smooth braking now will eventually end up as a pulsating feeling from warped rotors if the new pads are installed and the rotors are too thin. The thickness of the rotor is necessary to dissipate heat.

If Steve is primarily interested in relatively clean wearing pads and dependable stopping power (not necessarily interested in the highest performance products) he should be able to obtain both front and back rotors and pads for as little as $225 (front rotors $50 ea., rear rotors $25 ea., front pads $45/pair, rear pads $30/pair). For example, check out Rockauto.com - Raybestos professional grade rotors and Wagner ThermoQuiet pads. I would not recommend replacing with the OEM brake pads as they are extremely dusty.

$780 does seem high. Was the mechanic planning to flush out the brake lines and replace the fluid too? Simply replacing the rotors and pads is probably around 1.5 hours labor per axle which at $80/hr labor would be around $500 total.