Hello, and Welcome from St. Louis! I have an old Featherweight that I take to classes because they are mostly about straight stitching. I can do most everything on that machine. I can cover the feed dogs and do machine quilting also!
I have a fancy embroidery machine, but do mostly straight sewing, so I don't take advantage of all that it does! I would stick to the good old metal machine. There are still people who can fix them, because they don't need computer knowledge to work on them. You will be surprised at the minimal cost to fixing the old ones compared to the new ones!
When you are ready to get a newer fancy machine, try them out first, and only get what you will use. It is foolish to pay for something you will use only once or twice a year. Find a friend who has one and visit her! :?