If you want to put in the time, an RV will make a nice plane. I'm doing the wing assembly of my RV-9A right now. Have the empennage all done.

If you want a family hauler, Van's new RV-10 looks to be a winner. Good speed, good payload, good handling, and still economical with a Lycoming 4-cylinder engine. Again, though, you DO have to put in the time to assemble it.

I'm assembling the full kit, but you can shorten the time quite a bit by assembling the quick-build version. Of course, you'll spend more money to get the quick-build.

One thing about RV's, though...you will find a LOT of people all around who are building them or have built them. Help is always close by, and their support is excellent.