That's probably a good place to start. I'm in somewhat similar circumstances, and I've been paying a lot more attention to TCO calculations than purchase price except insofar as I can afford the latter without going into debt -- not that it's rational to have an absolute aversion to debt, instrumentally speaking.

Unfortunately, the data behind all the online TCO calculations I've been able to find is usually rather opaque. I'd feel better about it if I knew where all the numbers were coming from.