I was going through the same issue.
Untill i found a used lathe in good shape, a 9x14 southbend for cheaper than a 8x12 HF, and alot cheaper than the small busybee. also another thing the southbend is mounted on a nice table + a little bit of tooling (maybe $150 in tooling and the table is worthing something also).
i would recomend looking for used, just be sure you know what to look for in the machine if/when you look at used. + most of the time the used lathes come with tooling / extras and with what ever lathe you get your going to be doing modifications to it also.
here is a picture of the lathe i am getting
http://www.eums.net/lathe/full-lathe.jpg
good luck finding the right machine for your needs !