It truly depends on what you want to do. Also, the Bernina is a heavy machine to take on and off the frame if you are going to use it a both a longarm and a regular sewing/embroidery machine. If you are just going to sit and sew, then it will be fine.
You can get an smaller Innova for under $11k (here's their Sept specials as a sample:
http://innovalongarm.com/shop/special-offers.html). But definitely figure out what you want to do with the machine and shop around - you can usually find a used machine somewhere - even check with machine dealers for demos that they might sell for less.