First, you could finish that quilt and give it to the local nursing home or a charity, they will love it tucks and all!
I just upgraded my machine and I bought a Viking Sapphire 875Q. I love it and it was under your budget amount. When I went to try out the different machines I took quilt sandwiches with me to use on the different machines and with different thickness battings.
I ended up purchasing my new machine from the same company where I purchased my Viking 1100. I love my 1100 but some of the new features spurred me on to upgrade! I got a little break on accessories and servicing due to my being a longterm customer and then 36 months same as cash!
What I like is: the longer throat, the self threader, the automatic knotting when you begin and the scissors that cut the thread at the end, the up/down needle position, automatic tension is awesome, has a excellent light and and easy to use programming and easy to read display. It has way more stitch options than I will ever use and it has the tapered sewing option I can use on my quilt corners and it is easy! It can run with the knee or you can do off/on,needle up/down, I could go on! LOL They tell you it does not require a walking foot, and I would agree with that on quilts that have the flatter batting, but for the fluffier batting I went and bought the walking foot.
I also liked the Pfaff (can't remember the model) but I was upgrading from the Viking that I bought new eons ago and I think I got used to the feel of the Viking. I found the Babylock/Brother (both made by same company) to be somewhat lacking in power.