Well, it is probably not as bad as most of the bikes Wal-Mart sells, but I'd second the used bike from craigslist option.

Yes, the price looks good, and the components specs are similar to most entry level bikes that you would get at a bike shop for $5-600, but here are a few things to consider.

(1) the bike was assembled by a Wal-Mart employee who probably doesn't know jack about bikes. Given my experience at Wal-Mart, you are probably lucky that the brakes worked during your test ride. If you are ordering it off of the website, you will have to assemble it yourself. Since you describe yourself as "not a bike guy", that probably means paying your local bike shop 50 or 60 dollars to assemble it and do the initial tune-up, and then paying them some more money to tune it again a month later after all the cables have stretched. Those would be rolled in with the cost of a new bike at the shop.

(2) If you are going to tour, this is a poor choice of bike, even if it turns out to be of good quality.

(3) Good luck getting Wal-Mart to fix it for you if something does break.

Also, it is certainly made in China - the only bikes that are still made in the US these days are small-run steel/ti frames, and some high-end carbon, either of which is likely to run something north of $1500 for the frameset.