The general cost estimate seems to be $2,000+ for great quality sound. I'm enjoying learning about vinyl and what it takes to really get it right. I simply can't afford to start down that never ending path...
No it's not if you do thorough due diligence. Thom Mackris gave you some excellent advice on a set up. Even adding in the cost of a good record cleaner (VPI) and fluids you'd be under $1000. As Thom said, you'd have nothing to apologize for either.
Analog is my priority, but I have what I consider to be a an excellent digital set-up. I recently purchased a Galibier Serac from Thom that has an SME Series III tonearm mounted on it and I use a B&O MMC-2 cartridge. I also use the Hagerman Bugle phonostage. This system exceeds $3k and while I was waiting for it to be delivered I played around with a few B&O tangential tracking tables. None of these tables cost me more than $550 with cartridge. All of them delivered very good sound (very competitive with digital) and while I can clearly hear that the Galibier set-up is better (and exceeds my digital playback), I will admit I could have easily lived with my refurbished B&O 8000 with MMC-2 cartridge.
Dual, AR, Thorens, Luxman, Lenco, Empire, and B&O tables among others can get you great sound for little investment and set-up effort/maintenance. What really appears to be the issue is that you're on the fence and can't decide if you even want to get into vinyl. If that's the case consider this last point. You can buy a nice vintage table (with tonearm), a decent cartridge, the Bugle phono, a Nitty Gritty cleaning set-up, and some records and give it a whirl. If it doesn't work out you should be able to resell everything pretty easily and not suffer too much of a loss in the process. My feeling is if you do it right, you won't be selling it off.
