What do you like to shoot? Are you partial to landscapes? (in which case you would probably want something even wider than the 55mm) or wildlife or sports? (go with the longer lens) or do you shoot a greater variety of subjects; in which case I would go with the 55 – 250mm.
My favorite lens was a 75 – 210mm. It allowed me to take pictures of people “up close” without intruding; and I could use it just hand held without a tripod or monopod.
Another thing you need to consider is the range of the f-stop. When you want to take sharply focused pictures, your camera needs as much light as possible. So, in dimly lit areas, it’s best to choose a low f-stop number, opening the aperture to its biggest size. Lenses capable of very wide apertures, such as f/1.2 or f1/4, are best for creating extremely shallow depth of field. To accentuate this effect, it helps to be close to your subject. If you want deep depth of field then the reverse is true. Many landscape photographers use high f-stops in the range of f/16 or f/22, which helps keep objects in both the foreground and background in focus.
And remember that the image quality of many lenses tends to deteriorate as you approach the extreme ends of the f-stop range. This is especially true of zoom lenses because they’re so complex.