Maybe it was just the re-seller we had, but our 'customer service' experience was a complete joke. I'm actually pretty shocked to hear that some of you guys have had good experience with MasterCAM from a service standpoint - I don't think I've ever heard that before, anywhere I went. And considering the price, and how many seats we had, I always found that completely infuriating.
But let's keep it realistic - the OP is running a TM-1, and it sounds like this is going to be the first time they/he has ever bought a CAM package. Fusion is going to be more than enough for anything they/he want to do.
I don't really get people's concern about subscription software services. $300 a year translates to 30 years of service, or you can pay $9,000 for a seat of MasterCAM and 'own' it.
Capability-wise, I've talked to a couple of guys who do mold work all programmed with Fusion. They're a newer shop, and figured they'd give it a shot because it's so stinking cheap. The guy who does the majority of the programming (formerly a MasterCAM guy) thinks he's just as fast with Fusion, and that it was a ton easier to learn.
I'm sure if all you currently use is MC, and you tried to switch, whatever program you go to would seem slow. But if you were to give it some time, I'd be surprised if you couldn't be just as fast, or faster, with a different CAM than MC.
Other options? If you already happen to have a seat of SolidWorks, there's a free 2.5 axis CAM add-in that ships with SW called HSMXpress. If you have Inventor, it's pretty much the same thing, but called HSM Express. Or you can buy full CAM package add-ins for either of those. Not sure on pricing though.
And maybe that brings up a good point: if you design/make your own stuff, and don't currently have a CAD system, you'll need to get one. It is agonizingly painful to draw/model anything in MasterCAM compared to an actual CAD program (again, my opinion.)
Does MasterCAM offer free trials? In the time we've been discussion options, you could download and try out Fusion, pretty much for as long as you want (because AutoDesk gives it away to a lot of people, and don't really police usage.) If you're honest, you pays your money.
Go give it a shot, along with any of the other software systems you're considering. I just know that it would take a world of convincing to get me to buy MasterCAM over a lot of other systems.