Which orbit change takes less energy?

In general, changing the inclination of an orbit takes more energy than shifting the aphelion. However, if we are changing the orbit to avoid a collision with Earth, the answer is less simple. There are asteroids whose aphelia could be raised but this would not reduce the danger, as their perihelion would remain inside our orbit. And since the crossing point for an inclined orbit shifts along the orbit (advance of the line of apsides to use the technical jargon), changing inclination is not an ured method either. One would need to know the particular orbit involved, and test several solutions to see which is best.