I think he has always been both an artist and a bean counter. He was upset with Kurtz for going over budget on Empire. Lucas has always been mindful of the costs, and he has always gone for good enough as opposed to "perfect". It's a balancing act to be sure, and wether or not one thinks he does a good job of balancing it is depndant on how good they think his movies turned out in the end.

Watching the doc that came with THX about American Zeotrope, Lucas says he was always worried about the bottom line, and Fracis was always just jumping into things and letting the chips fall where they may. He said that most everything he learned about taking risks, he learned from Francis.