You mentioned that you have never quilted before, but not whether you have other sewing experience. If you have not sewn before, you may want to sign up for some lessons at your local quilt shop. Check to see if they have machines that are used in lessons. And in this case, I would suggest buying from a dealer. You may not be able to find any machines selling for under $200 at a dealer. They tend to focus more on higher end machines, though that's not always the case.
The main things you need in a quilting machine are a good quality straight stitch for piecing. A 1/4" piecing foot is a very nice thing to have and even if the machine you choose doesn't come with one, chances are if you stick to Janome, or Brother you will be able to find a generic 1/4" foot to fit. Other useful feet include a walking foot (for use in quilting) and a Free Motion Quilting foot (also sometimes called a darning foot). I would also take into consideration the throat size of any machine you are looking at. Some of the lowest cost new machines have very small throat spaces and it can be very difficult to get a quilt through the opening when it comes time to do the quilting.
If you do have sewing experience and are therefore familiar with basic operation of a sewing machine, then there is no need to go through a dealer for a good machine in the price range you have indicated. As the previous poster mentioned, Janome makes a very good, basic, reliable sewing machine. Another brand to check into would be Brother.
Both Janome and Brother can be purchased over the internet from Amazon.com, and also from various of the Big Box stores. In order to find out which machines each makes that has what you're looking for go to the Janome and the Brother websites, they both list their machines and mention what features each machine has.
If you are going this route, then I would get on Amazon.com, look up the model machine you are thinking about and see what the reviewers have to say. Also do a google search to find reviews on the machines, there are a couple of websites where experienced quilters or garment makers review machines--I can't think of their URLs right off the top of my head but you can put in the model machine you're thinking of and find reviews that way.
I purchased my PC420PRW from Amazon for under $400 and it has some extra features which I like,( but aren't necessary for quilting) that the less expensive machines don't have. These are needle up/down function which allows you to set the machine so it stops with the needle in the down position, very reliable auto threader, thread cutter and a 7" throat width which is nice to have when quilting a larger quilt as it can get quite tiresome shoving a large quilt through a small throat space.
You might also think about a vintage machine if you do have sewing experience and are comfortable finding your way around a variety of sewing machines. You won't get needle up/down, but you may get a larger throat space (more like 6.5-7") than in the very lowest end Brother and Janome machines.
Rob