I need some turntable guidance

Wemfan, as you noticed people like to wax poetic about turntables, tonearms and cartridges. Just look at the finest, most expensive examples of each. All of the finest, most expensive turntables are belt driven, not direct drive and not idler wheel. Look at the SAT tonearm. Big stiff tapered tube and rigid bearings. Check out the cantilever of the Clearaudio Goldfinger or the Air Tight PC-1 Supreme. Tiny diamond glued right to the end of a boron cantilever. No excess material. Now look for those traits in more reasonably priced equipment. 
For set up you will need a good protractor. I like the DB Systems. A pocket mirror, a digital tracking force gauge, a bubble level and tools usually supplied with the tonearm. If you get a SOTA you can tell them what arm you plan on using and they will drill the arm board for you.

Mike

@wemfan Consider a turntable that has been at the forefront of analog for decades....the Linn LP12. You will find that this platform is not that popular anymore, simply because many folks owned the table back in the day and never had it set up correctly or for some other long lost reason.( but go and listen and let your ears decide!) Nonetheless, the LP12 offers an excellent upgrade path, so you can get into the system ( and that is exactly what it is) with not too much $$ and then bring it up to whatever state you like, funds allowing. Buying a new LP12 comes with the mandatory ’set up’ from the dealer...and once that is done correctly, that set up will last you for years. I think you will not get a better sounding table than the old fruit box Linn. ( particularly at your price points).

daveyf, the LP12 is way overdue for extinction and there is no way to upgrade it to make even remotely competitive it is so poorly engineered.
The SME, SOTA and Basis turntable are all excellently engineered suspended tables and so much better than the LP12 it boggles the mind why anyone would want one. It was not even a good table in it's day. It was just one of the only 1/2 decent turntables available then. It's like the Garrards. There are a mess of cheap ones around used so everyone is twisting a screw here and there then waxing about how much better the table sounds. When I was young I bought a used TD 124. It was a boat anchor and reliable. It also rumbled like an express train. I had no illusions that it was magically going to get better regardless of what I did to it. But it was all I could afford and it served it's purpose. The problem for these turntables now is that there are so many decent inexpensive tables out there now that outperform them. 

@mijostyn Kirk (RIP, BTW) at SOTA offered to set up my Series III for anything during the upgrade he performed several years ago and noted arm mass was no longer a consideration with the Series V suspension I had him install.  If I read the website correctly,  they're now on Series VI. I know my Phantom Supreme is no lightweight in any event and it works very well indeed. My preference is toward crisp with flat frequency response so I generally prefer DV.  The OP has speakers that may not be favorable for that balance depending on his preference, and Koetsu could be more appropriate. Ortofon is another option too.  As noted, this is a hobby and having fun is key.  That can often be found in the journey itself.  My two cents anyway. Enjoy the ride!

@mijostyn While I agree some idlers have flaws, I have to once again object on your blanket pronouncement that idlers are inherently sub-standard. I listened recently to a $125k Basis AJC Transcendence/Vector with a $10k MySonic cartridge, $15k Gryphon Diablo amp and $40k Rockport speakers.
Later, I played the same vinyl at home and notwithstanding the scale of the equipment, my admittedly tricked out Garrard 401 sounded far better. Bags more detail, color, timbre, snap and musicality. Without rumble!