Hello All..
Thank you for your replies. I think I am leaning towards the Babylock Pearl quilt frame. And instead of going with the package deal right out of the gate I'm going to first see if I can pair it up with a refurbished or second hand long arm machine. QuiltnNan, thanks for the tip of the Hinterberg frame.. on their web site they do sell refurbished long arm machines for under $2500. I'm going to see what other prices I can find and if I can't get both items for under $5K (I have a quote on the pearl frame for $2K) with a long arm machine that is refurbished, then I'm going to go with the Juki 2000 Qi and use that for a few years until I can save up to replace it with a long arm.
I'd really love to get into quilting beyond the meander stitch and add designs with interest into my quilting. Hopefully this spring/summer when we refinish our basement and my new quilting room is built I can have a nice little escape for myself and take my quilting from the kitchen table to a real quilting table.
Thanks again ladies!
K