Those two things are usually related. Hint, hint.

 

These trucks arent speed demons but I would not say they are gutless. I have had a 318 but now have a 360 truck, it has more power but not that much, the 318 pulled well enough. you should be getting 0-60 times in the 9 to 11 second range depending on gearing, tires, factory options, etc. If you aren't getting that then something is wrong.

 

It will never have much more power than it has now even if you do cam, heads, intake and exhaust, it will only help a little. Considering you say you don't know much about cars it will not be cost effective to have a shop do the work. Might as well sell the 96 ram and buy a newer truck with more power. Will cost less. Most of us here know the truck is not very powerful but we love it and it's paid for so we mod it anyways.
Accept it for what it is, if you love it and want to modify the motor then do it with a realistic understanding that it is not a powerful motor and never will be. If you have mechanical knowlegde and or deep pockets then you could build some power, but it's a lot more work than swapping the 360.

 

I think about the only thing on the list that I posted that you WOULDN'T be able to do yourself, would be exhaust....... let a shop deal with that.

 

correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't tuners only available with OBDII? Beings his is a 96 that's OBDI

 

OBD2 was mandatory starting Jan. 1996. Not sure if that applied to only vehicles manufactured starting in 1996, or 1996's that were sold in 1995. Easy enough for the OP to tell. Whats the ALDL look like?

 

If you have an obd2 truck, buy a superchips or sct tuner. Best bang for the buck. But, before you do any mods, make sure the plenum is not leaking. As stated above, it could be why your cruise isnt working.