if i were you i would really look around...i have a viking sewing machine that actually cost about $500 more than my long arm...so you may find, if you are saving for that bernina, that same money may get you your long arm. as far as 'is it worth it?" well, that depends...do you pay someone else to quilt your quilts now? that was the decider for me, when my daughter's wedding quilt cost me $385 to have quilted i decided i could never make another quilt if i didn't figure out how to do the quilting myself; then i took a couple local classes and wrestled a couple twin quilts through my regular machine; hated that...so i saved for my big machine. we did build our own table for it, saved a few hundred...but i figure i had it paid for in just over a year and have definitly got my money's worth out of it.