Yeah, they do that in Maryland also. Fortunately when I lived there I had a mechanic who would only replace the parts that were worn, usually cutting the cost of my maintenance in half.

The manual says the plugs and timing belt should be changed at 100k under normal driving conditions, but doesn't mention the fuel filter. Plugs and fuel filters are cheap and easy to replace, so I change mine at 60k and 30k, respectively. I'm at around 90k now and getting ready to replace my timing belt.

When I changed my plugs at 60k, I noticed some improvement in performance, but the improvement in gas mileage was minimal. Supposedly belt slippage can also cause modest losses in gas mileage, though I suspect the amount is negligable. I've never noticed any difference changing my fuel filter, but it just gives me piece of mind.