I've done them with cheap off white latex paint, sprayed on. You could either buy a cheap hand held sprayer, or rent a commercial one. It goes fast, and looks amazing for what it is. With a flat latex finish there is no issue with breath-ability. I'm not sure what you read on the subject, but if you are dealing with wood in a basement that's potentially rotting because you encapsulated it with paint, you got some pretty big moisture issues, so I find it hard to be all that concerned about it. I did a cheap basement flip and my painting sub suggested it. He just blew all the dirt loose with an air compressor, put drop cloths on the floor and shot a nice even coat on the ceiling. I then installed basic fluoresent strips lights to the side of the joists for indirect lighting. The space really looked sharp.