What is the difference between learning the Buddhist way and simply learning from life?

What is different about being a Buddhist than an atheist? As far as I can tell, "western" thought is a mix of different philosophical approaches that can be applied to life with a dose of common sense: ethics, rationalization, self, society, abstraction, belief, existence, nature... there's place for everything in "western" thought, one just needs to look in the right places. I've heard good things about Buddhism, but everything I've read about until now is just a different way of saying something that I've heard elsewhere. Different words, a different language. ***Does Buddhism recommend itself as the best approach to reach enlightenment, or can this fulfillment be achieved outside of Buddhist schooling?*** Or more subjectively: Why should a person follow Buddhism instead of something else?