I think you should see if the dealer you spoke with has any used machines. A lot of people "trade up" and the shop has the gently used machines and they are refurbished. You can usually get a good machine for a fraction of the price. I bought my DGD a cheap machine at WalMart. She loves it but I don't. The foot petal is hard to get the machine to start sewing. You have to tap it several times to get it started. Then it is going too fast. It just isn't very responsive. I wish I had spent a little more and gotten a Janome machine for her. I'm thinking of getting a new foot petal for her. I don't want her to get fed up with the machine and give up on sewing.
Sue