One of the features I like best about the longarm is that it makes sandwiching the quilt so much easier. With a sit-down machine you still have to sandwich the hard way. Just sayin'. Also, you can get a very nice Innova in that price range, not a low end machine at all. My third point is that you may or may not really use the embroidery capability. I got the embroidery module with my Bernina 440 and then discovered that I am not all that interested in machine embroidery. I do plan to use it eventually for quilt labels, but that's mostly because I feel guilty not using it at all.