Yes, long distance is included in the plan.

Yes, it's true, but you can do even more than that.

With the Fair & Flexible non-America plan, you can receive and make long
distance calls to and from anywhere in the USA as long as your phone is
currently using Sprint's network (that is, the screen does not show
"roaming", because you're in a Sprint covered-area somewhere in the USA
and the phone is using the Sprint signal).  The calls just use your
plan's minutes.  There's little meaning to "home area" - basically your
home area is the entire nationwide Sprint PCS network.  If you're on it,
your incoming and outgoing calls are included.

With the Fair & Flexible America plan, you can also make long distance
calls from anywhere in the USA as long as your phone works, whether it's
on Sprint's network or roaming on some other provider's network when it
can't find a Sprint signal.  The calls still just use your plan's
minutes instead of costing a high per-minute roaming rate.  This America
option can be useful if you travel into rural areas beyond the reach of
Sprint's largely-urban & Interstate Hwy network.