If you have the 4-cyl accord of that year, that's probably where your problem lies. A car with that kind of weight needs a fair level of torque to get it moving, and an NA 4-cyl usually isn't sufficient.

Auto trannys do suck the life out of the engine, as a general rule... but there are some exceptions. Too bad you won't see them on anything less than $40,000.

I'd look into a 5-speed swap. You'd get an additional 5-10% more power delivered to the wheels, which is far better than anything else you can do besides F/I.