The air Elna's are collectible machines, so it could be worth getting repaired. The Round Bobbin in St. Paul has been around for decades, albeit in various locations, and they have sold Elnas for decades also. I would call them.
Getting your Elna repaired doesn't rule out a longarm, though! There is a group called homequiltingsystems on Yahoo that is a great resource for all types of information about different longarm systems -- all from users, not dealers. Well worth joining. Their rule of thumb is that you should research for a year before actually purchasing a longarm, to be sure you get what you really want within your price range, as there are many options.
Oops! Just found some bad reviews about Round Bobbin sewing machine repair. They may be out of business anyway.