Hello!
My mom owns a Bernina 1130 It's still going strong. She bought it brand new in 1984 a year before my baby brother was born. Just recently she had to replace the light bulb for the very first time. LOL The 1030 is a good solid mechanical machine. It uses the 'old style' foot basically unlike modern low shank feet instead of it sliding on side way, think of the Bernina as having a boot that slides down in to the feet. I think ebay has sets for the old style feet for cheaper than the dealers.
A walking foot basically is a foot that grabs the fabric from the top along with the feed dogs on the bottom. Think of the regular feet like this, the feed dogs grip the fabric from beneath while letting the top slide through under the presser foot. A walking foot essentially grabs both top and bottom fabric at the same speed so if the fabric is slippery then it's being pulled in at the same rate. I hope that makes sense.
If you go to the bernina website and check out their mechanical machines link they have a model 1008 that goes for about $1200 I know used that same model goes for roughly around $500. I was just checking one out at mom's bernina dealer *see new light bulb* lol These models are in the same series. The used one i was checking out was used in a costuming department of a large university. They just updated their machines so it was available. It ran pretty good for it's age and how much it probably was used.
It's a good mechanical machine. Replacement foot pedals run about $150, light bulbs about $5. My mom's machine (1130) is a higher series number and had a knee lift that you might have to ask about. I'm not sure about the 1030.
As for ease of use, I learned to sew first on the Bernina (mom's machine), then on the Singers (Jr. High Home Ec. Classes) Even then I found Bernina's easier to use, or maybe it was mom hand holding me as i used her baby. LOL
Hope this helps.
If the machine is under $400 it's a good price, get her serviced and she'll last you forever. As I said mom's machine just recently burned out a light bulb for the first time since 1984. She's an avid quilter.