Check out the Janome Magnolia 7330. I paid $399 for mine but got the dealer to throw in a 1/4" foot and a walking foot. You should also make sure your dealer includes introductory classes on your machine because having bells and whistles doesn't help if you don't know how to use them!
Here are the features I love about my Janome Magnolia:
Needle up/down
Drop feed dogs
Speed control
Start/stop button
1-step buttonhole
If I had a bigger budget I would have looked for something with:
Auto thread cutter
Adjustable presser foot (the Threadbanger has this but it was another $100, so if you can afford it, maybe look into that)