What is the affect of a direct lie compared to a lie by omission?

I think most people hate to lie. I also believe that people would consider a lie of omission to be not as bad as an out and out lie where you tell someone, to their face, that you didn’t do something they are accusing you of.

I’m interested in both the moral considerations you might make in deciding which form of lie to make, assuming you felt you had no other choice but to lie.

I’m also interested in strategic considerations. Do you think you can carry off one lie, but not the other? Which is worse if you get caught, later?

It is a lie that could keep you out of big trouble. Telling the truth has such awful consequences that you want to get away without the person you are lying to ever finding out. Assume that you’re not at all sure you could lie to their face because lying is something you never wanted to do or ever felt you could do. So you want to lie by omission, but if confronted, you will have to tell a bald-faced lie.

Could you get away with it? What happens if you are successful? What happens if you are caught?