Not long ago I was in the same boat you are now and had a good hard
look at what was available. Almost went for the RF45 but settled on
a used Clausing 8520, with a 6x24" table and about 650lbs it was
just right for the basement and what I do.

They are a little hard to find but turn up on e-Bay and at dealers for
HSM type machines. I paid $1750 for mine and it came with a 4"
vise, I love it!

Did a full restoration and enjoyed every minute of it:

http://gallery.intlwaters.com/thumbnails.php?album=323

You can see from the pix how robust it is and the remarkable
accuracy.

Here's another site giving more details:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/clausing%20vertical/index.html

Look for an 8520 with the MT2 spindle, the 8525 has a B&S which is
harder to find tooling for.