It's really not that scary, and there are very real benefits. Pedaling uphill is just nicer when you can pull as well as push on the pedals.

I started off with combination pedals where one side is flat and the other has the mechanism, so you can use them with both normal shoes and cleated shoes, thinking it would come in handy a lot of the time.

Literally never used normal shoes to ride again, because I ended up preferring to be clipped in so much that I went out of my way to make sure I always had my cleated shoes on if I was going to ride. I've ridden other bikes except my own, since, and it feels weird. I keep lifting my rear foot off the pedals trying to use both legs to apply force to the cranks.

Clipping and unclipping becomes completely natural after just a bit of practice, and if you go with SPD like me, you can get the silver cleats and adjustable tension pedals, to set it up so that the slightest force in and "off" direction releases the shoe. I had plenty of cases at first where I forgot how to deliberately unclip, but it never led to taking an actual fall.

When you get used to it to the point that you start wanting the clipping and unclipping to be more deliberate, just turn up the tension.

That said, unless the benefits interest you, it's not life-changing enough to be worth spending on. Flat pedals work, just fine.

But as someone who uses clipless, I don't ever want to ride without being clipped in again. It's just better.