I ended up going with the following:

sub DisplayFields {
    my ($screen,$screenname,$tabdata,$fields) = @_;
    for (my $i = 0; $i < @$fields; $i+=2) {
        my ($field,$style) = ($$fields[$i+1]->[1],'');
        if ($field eq 'textfield') {
            $field = $cgi->textfield(
                -name => @$fields[$i],
                -size => @$fields[$i+1]->[2],
                -default => $$tabdata->{$screenname}->{@$fields[$i]},
            );
        } elsif ($field eq 'picklist') {
            $field = $cgi->popup_menu(
                -name => @$fields[$i],
                -values => @$fields[$i+1]->[2],
                -labels => @$fields[$i+1]->[3],
                -default => $$tabdata->{$screenname}->{@$fields[$i]},
            );
        } elsif ($field eq 'checkbox') {
            $field = $cgi->checkbox(
                -name => @$fields[$i],
                -value => 1,
                -label => '',
                -checked => $$tabdata->{$screenname}->{@$fields[$i]},
            );
        } elsif ($field eq 'textarea') {
            $style = 'vertical-align: top';
            $field = $cgi->textarea(
                -name=> @$fields[$i],
                -rows => @$fields[$i+1]->[2],
                -columns => @$fields[$i+1]->[3],
                -default => $tabdata->{$screenname}->{@$fields[$i]},
            );
        }

        if ($field eq 'begin_table') {
            $$screen->AppendToSection('body',qq(<table class="@$fields
+[$i+1]->[2]"><tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>));
        } elsif ($field eq 'end_table') {
            $$screen->AppendToSection('body','</table>');
        } else {
            $$screen->AppendToSection('body',qq(<tr><td class="fieldna
+me" style="$style">@$fields[$i+1]->[0]</td><td class="fieldvalue">$fi
+eld</td></tr>));
        }
    }
}
[download]

So now in my 'tabs', (this is through a web browser don't ask how :p) I can neat things like:

sub CoreModuleInfoTabEdit {
    my($module,$tabdata,$screen) = @_;
    SetupStyles(\$screen);
    DisplayFields(\$screen,'CoreModuleInfo',\$tabdata,[
        begin_table        =>    ['','begin_table','config'],
        exit_url        =>    ['Exit URL','textfield',50],
        session_expire_time    =>    ['Session Expire Time (minutes)',
+'textfield',4],
        session_max_time    =>    ['Session Max Time (hours)','textfie
+ld',4],
        allow_guest_login    =>    ['Allow Guest Logins','checkbox',''
+],
        end_table        =>    ['','end_table',''],
    ]);
}
[download]

(in the app i'm working on each subroutine is a different tab, and there's a complex management system that works completely behind the scenes to manage the user's navigation through the tabs)... This works great for me, before I had two screens that totaled 415 lines, after this, both screens plus the display routine totaled 123 lines :) Mmmmm, Diet Code(TM)...

Thanks Fastolfe!