Go with what works for you. If you really and truly doubt that you will ever use the fancy stitches, save your $$ and buy the cheaper machine that works for you. Why not? The idea here isn't to spend as much as you can, but to buy the least expensive, good quality machine with the features that you want.
Given that you said that you had a machine with bells and whistles and never used them and really don't have a desire now, buy the Juki. Then you will have extra money to buy some more fabric and batting. (and I'm a really happy Janome owner, now, BTW.--have a 7700, 12000 and an 350E embroidery machine-)