More help needed, I'm not real bright.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with my analog saga. A brief review: I have about 400 LP's from years ago. My turntable, in my second system is a cheap Technics direct drive unit (no laughing). I'm planning on getting started into a nice analog rig in my main system (Classe/Threshold/ Vienna Acoustic Beethovens). I thought I had a great deal hooked up with a Linn LP 12 Vahalla/ Linn Ittock II/ Linn Karma cartridge for $850. The seller broke our agreement and sold to someone else at the last minute. I was looking to spend $600-800, but could stretch up to $1K for a starter rig. Now I'm willing to stretch that to $1.2K. Here is my question: I've seen other Linn setups for this price (a few years old), I've also been offered a Rega 25 w/ Super Elys cartridge (next to new, 1 hour use). I also could get a Music Hall MMF-7 and a VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine for about the same price as the aforementioned Linn and Rega. I've read many who swear that the wet/vac makes the biggest improvement of any 'tweak'. So, if it was your $1.2K and you were just starting over again, would you go for the older Linn, the newer Rega, or the MMF-7 and VPI 16.5 cleaning machine?
In case you were wondering, yes, I could get the VPI in about 6 months, if I bought the Linn or Rega, and thought the analog sound was impressive enough to require more investment. However, if these 20 year old albums don't impress me over the current digital setup I have (Both redbook and SACD), I may not pursue it further. Feel free to ask any questions, and thank you in advance for your responses.

John