My favorite part of making a quilt is the quilting.
If you go to a big quilt show, you will find many of the dealers there and can actually run the machines. An important part is getting the handles that you are comfortable on. Also some machines are heavier than others.
I actually chose my dealer because the dealer was closest to me and I can get service easier. Machines do need to be cleaned.
I got a big machine right away not the biggest because I have short arms. I had had a frame a million years ago that I put my regular machine into. I only had 71/4 inches under my arm and then part of that was taken by the take up roller. The area was way too small. At that time , they didn't have handles on the front as they do now. It was hard on my back. So I decided that I would never upgrade again. I got what I wanted and I am so glad.
I teach on a Baby Lock. That is a good machine, not fond of the frame but the machine does such a good job and has such a good stitch. I have had it break the thread once with all the beginners using it and have never seen a pop up. But the way the frame turns the fabric ahead, it is slow compared to my own home machine. So it frustrates me.
But compare the price, it has raised it's prices and you may be able to get a larger machine for little more with a much more efficient heavier frame.
I love having the long arm. I do much bigger quilts now. My machine was four times faster than doing a quilt on my small home machine when I first started. And now I am so much faster than that. It is so much easier on the body also. I still enjoy FMQ on my small machine on very small projects.