1998 Ford Taurus Can you unplug a misfiring fuel injector

Unplugging the injector will take away what ever power the cylinder is giving
if its about is zero than you will not miss it
no harm done

I was told that if I do disconect it then the engine will sense this and send more fuel to the other injectors to make up for the loss and that extra fuel will cause more damage to the cat then the fuel not firing in the no. 1 cylinder. Is this correct?

I dont believe so
if any the PCM will see that you have a misfire and will cut down on the fuel
any how the O2 sensors job is to monitor the fuel in the exhaust
and adjust as needed
why is it going to cost more than the car
to have it fixed

To get in and tear down the engine to completely fix the problem I have gotten quotes starting at $1000 and going up. I only paid $450 for the car, it has 129000 miles on it and there is no real guarentee the repairs will help. I had a compression test and leak down test done. The leak down in my number 1 cylinder showed air coming out the exhaust pipe and the radiator. The no. 1 cylinder also has low compression and the others are below where they are suppose to be. My plan is to just drive the car till the engine dies. I was told that right now I will probably burn up the cat before the engine goes so I know I may have to replace it, but am trying to reduce the wear I am putting on it with the misfire.

Have you consider a used engine
if car is in a good shape !!!

Once this engine does go I am going to look around and price out what that would cost me. Basically right now my objective is to get the most life out of this engine and try to mimize the damage to the cat the best way possible.

Just drive around nice and easy and dont push it
you should be fine good luck