Look around at your local Joann's & quilt shops for short arm setups and go play with some. Even better if you can attend a large quilt show with vendors that have the mid-arm & true long arms. Some quilt shops let you rent time on their long arm machines. That is really the way to decide if you want to invest money into quilting yourself or whether you just like to piece and pay a longarmer.
Join
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homequiltingsystems/ and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MQSG/ to just lurk and learn about the different brands & sizes.
You may even decide that you like to sit & quilt rather than frame quilt. There are several options if you go that route also and more seem to be coming out every year.
You can get a new 9" machine with frame for under $2,000. The prices go up with larger machines, metal frames, stitch regulators, robotics, etc.