Hi cheesepuff,
You are fortunate to be near Chicago.
The list of the better choices that are near you are in posts #2 and 4 here and it includes one of our members My Green Mattress / Quality Sleep Shop which makes some of the best quality and value mattresses in the country. A forum search on mygreenmattress and on qualitysleep (you can just click these) will bring up more information and feedback about them.
Phoenix