I'm in the exact same situation. Sucks. I really don't care about having the latest gee-whiz SSD. I want an affordable option, like iMac users get with a 5400 rpm drive. But this isn't a machine for people without deep pockets anymore.
I've discovered I can configure an Intel NUC with the latest gen mobile i5, 1 TB Samsung 860 SSD (m.2), 16 GB RAM and a copy of Windows for about $700, which is still more than I wanted to pay, but it is a far cry from the $1500 or whatever it was that I'd have to pay for a Mini with an i5, 16 GB RAM, and 1 TB SSD. I realize the desktop i5 in the Mini is better but that's really not important to me; in benchmarks I've seen, the NUC is often neck-and-neck with or superior to the Mini in real world performance anyway, thanks to the Mini's throttling. Haven't pulled the trigger on the system yet, but it's looking likely. Super reluctant not to have a Mac in my life, though. There is apparently a super-enthusiastic NUC Hackintosh community out there, if I find I'm really missing a Mac that much, I suppose. It's sad, though.