India should go for both the Gorshkov and the Kitty Hawk. However, the Kitty Hawk deal will cost about $7Billion if the the retrofit and price for 65 F-18's are included. In contrast, even paying the Russians the full 1.5B additional they are asking, that would still be a good buy. We do need the two additional carriers. Once concern with the Kitty Hawk is that it would need a whole array of support vessels to protect it that we don't currently have. So, in the deal, India should also ask for the support vessels.
Having said the above, India should be wary of getting into too much reliance with the US as the US always attaches strings in its offers. On a larger view, India has no choice but to develop a strategic relationship with the US in view of China's aggressive designs against India.
