Check out the newest Janome--the one that's priced at $799.
Any good dealer will have several machines that you can sit and sew at before purchasing any. Think of everything that you can that you'd like for a machine to do then go as many "steps up" as you can afford. In the end you'll be much happier. Also, find out ahead of time how much accessories are. Janomes come with several extra feet whereas others, like Bernina don't and the extra feet are very expensive. I don't know about this particular Brothers but I've owned Brothers in the past and liked them.