Flight
Flying in and out of Santa Barbara is easiest and the airport is only about 20 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara. Sometimes flights in and out of Santa Barbara are a little more expensive and can have more layovers than LAX. It's a tiny, cute airport! About 5 gates.
Flight
LAX will have more flight options, may have cheaper flights options and possibly some nonstop flights versus SBA. LAX is about 1.5 hours (without traffic) from Santa Barbara. You can get back and forth by way of renting a car, uber/lyft, Amtrak train, or my personal favorite- the Santa Barbara Airbus! Website for the airbus is sbairbus.com. This shuttle will pick you up right from your gate at LAX and will drop you in Santa Barbara. Then, when it's time to leave, you can schedule a pick up time in Santa Barbara, and they will drop you off at departures at LAX.