I own 3.5 acres of land.... here is my advice...
Zero Turn is worth EVERY PENNY!!!! Get that, nothing else.
Avoid Craftsman tractors like the plague.... I own a Craftsman "heavy duty" lawn tractor with a 54 inch mowing deck (3 blades) (2006 model) and EVERY TIME I mow, something is broken on it.... the last thing to let go is one of the welds on the mower deck where the belt tensioner is and it allows the tensioner to flex not allowing the belt to tighten thus no spinning blades. I guess if you own a welder and are handy with it, you could probably own one of these and be happy as long as you don't mind pulling the deck off after every mow.
John Deer is the mower of choice for most people.... and there's a reason for it, my father inlaw owns one and using it is night and day, it doesn't have the rattles while driving through the field, everything just feels more solid.... but with that being said, the price tag would push you more in the direction of a zero turn.
So, with that being all said, go get yourself a zero turn or you will not be happy with your tractor choice.