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On the old OBD1 cars before '95 it is pretty hard to get the check engine light to actually come on unless a sensor is totally dead or unplugged. If it is just not working properly the car probably won't give you a check engine code to look at.
The sputtering can be a few things but the easiest thing would be to get a new distributor cap, rotor, plugs, and plug wires. I just did all that on my car and it was about 50 bucks for everything. The distributor caps don't hold up long but since you don't know when they were changed last it would be best to just do them all so you know they are good. If the car is missing that will make it run rich because the oxygen sensor sees more oxygen and increases the fuel.
That should most likely get it running a lot better. Just make sure you keep track of where the wires are when you are swapping distributor caps so you don't get the wires put in the wrong places. If you want to smooth it out a bit more you can turn the distributor a tiny amount clockwise to advance the timing. Just turn it a very small amount like 1/16 of an inch. Just listen for knock while driving and back it down if you hear any.
If you think you have a vacuum leak the fastest way to find it I have found is get the car warm and idling. Use starting fluid and start spraying the hoses one at a time. If there is a leak the idle will pick up when you find it. Then you can look at the hose closer and figure out what is wrong and fix it.
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