What is the max range you can generally get with a triple crank for touring gears?

I think around 90 gear inches is the most I will need for top end. I want to have a good low end and fairly tight ratio between gears.

So what do you big time touring people reccommend?

A standard mountain crankset would be perfect for your case... from 18 to almost 100 gear inches on 700c wheels when used with 12/32 cassette, for instance...
Why would you want a tight ratio between gears on a tourer?

This crank from Nashbar seems like a good comprimise between a road racing crank which I find a little too big on the top end and a mountain crank which I find too small.
https://tinyurl.com/9mom7 It's on sale right now for $60 and if you buy it today or Tomorrow and pad your order up to $80 you can get an additional 20% off!

If you want a nice tight cluster (I like that too) go with a road cassette/derailieur. You can get a stock 9 speed with 14-25 which would be very tight and with the crank above give you the 90 gear inches you want, with 30 gear inches on the bottom end. Alternatively cobble together your own cassette and go 14-27.

thanks for the link, that might just be the crank I want.