Try to get to one of the bigger quilt shows so you can test & compare several side by side. Chicago, Des Moines, Houston, Paducah, Knoxville, Kansas City, and probably a dozen others. I'm only familiar with the list above myself but I know there are others on both coasts.

I disagree with the "need help so you must be near a dealer" line of thinking but I have always been interested in how things work and fixing things myself.

Rent time on a longarm/midarm setup if possible. You may not even like quilting and then you'll end up with a multi-thousand dollar boat anchor. By renting time, the owner has to deal with the tension & timing issues which you must deal with yourself on your own system.

Also, these things are BIG and you need space to set them up. Even the sit down ones take up more room than your sewing machine sitting on the dining room table. They are also heavy so you're not going to be putting it in the back of the closet between projects. They also run a lot faster than sewing machines (except for the Bailey and some other stretched versions) so they are kind of scary at first.

I have a Voyager 17 with stitch regulator on a ProFlex frame. I started with my regular sewing machine, an Elna 7200, on a B-Line Studio Frame. I added a PC Quilter and Max Throat to the Elna/B-Line combo and was very happy until a super deal fell into my lap with the Voyager/ProFlex.

If you live close enough to a big quilt show or expo, take your husband with you and visit the machines there. It will give you a better idea of what is available and you can try them out. It will also give you an idea of the price ranges.