The Storm is step up for sure, but I have heard the Cyclone II plays exactly like a T-2,000. Snakes advice on the Whirlwind is from first hand knowledge. My earlier post about NOT buying a Whirlwind was copied from a personal e-mail that I received from a local Pro here in the Tulsa area. He is also on the list of Official referrees for Tornado Tournaments and is the main organizer of such here in the Tulsa area. So to be honest, I must recuse myself from any personal Whirlwind experience. I haven't played competivley in over 25 years, but recently had the urge to start playing again. I knew that if I was going to be competitve, I needed to practice on a tournament table. If you plan to have a table for friends and family, to just have fun, the Whirlwind could be the ticket. There is also the dreaded payment plan. Perhaps you could take out a loan at a reasonable interest rate that is within your budget, that would allow you to purchase what you actually want. I know that with all the online shopping for tables that I did. The best deal overall were right here in the Tulsa area because shipping costs made all the others I looked at too much. I did find a brand new coin op Tornado here for $1,595 US. Which was a better price than anywhere online. I chose a used coin op. The table I bought has the counter still in it, and has 22,495 on the counter. The table itself plays like new. So, we get back to the same question, "How much is a Whirlwind worth"?
Continue to shop, try all vending companies you can find in the phone book. (which is how I found mine) Look in all the want ads of any publishing that sells things, call some bars/pubs that have foosball and ask them where they would suggest. You've got the scent, now all you have to do is complete the hunt.
Check your private messages here in this forum. I sent you some info on a used coin op for less than $500 US.