The brand with the sweet spot for low cost/good stitching/good durability right now, imo, is Janome. Singer's quality declined in the 70s and hasn't really recovered, imo, and Brother makes good sergers and good industrials, but I really don't find their home machines worth taking home.

When selecting a machine, remember that some of the things that a beginner may find useful/interesting may get in your way later or prove less than beneficial later. And please don't buy by numbers of stitches or stitch functions per dollar spent... better to have a sturdy machine that is capable of making a few stitch types precisely than one with tens or hundreds of stitches that acts like it has colic.

Start with "On the purchase, care and feeding of sewing machines" here: http://www.katedicey.co.uk and http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/c-203.pdf
http://www.dressaday.com/2008/01/how-to-choose-sewing-machine.html