I bought my Tig welder from a local used tool shop (
http://www.nvtools.com) and paid $900 for it. It is an older Lincoln 300 amp model. It welds very nice, and has all the features I could ever want. The only problem is I need a cherry picker to move it anywhere, but with 20' leads I can get all around my garage easily.
May be worth looking around for a used machine.