You will love the Fusion. My son has one (24) and loves it. We will have to turn it in when my husband retires, but we are thinking about buying it. Or else he will have to drive the junker Volvo.
I kinda want the new 3.6 liter Fusion/Milan to come out for 2008, however.. I'll probably go with a Milan at this point. They aren't cheap for the good models though, but they are solid cars as far as I can tell.
The only next step up is the Acura TL for $10k more.
Also, I test drove the 4 and 6 cylinder Fusions. The 4 should be discontinued. There's not enough power to even speed up to 60 in a safe fashion. The 6 has good power though.