J.L.
I think heading to your local conventions and curriculum fairs is the best way to actually see and page through any curriculum before making the financial investment. You can contact the publisher of MFW to see if they're coming to town. They are pretty big so I'm sure they'll make a stop at your state's upcoming fair.
The other nice thing about these conventions is you also get to meet parents who have used it and get their opinions. You'll probably find them buying next year's books at the vendor table for MFW. Besides parents, you'll get to meet the actual publishers/vendors of the products and get your questions directly answered and specific recommendations for your special needs and concerns.
Last but not least, because just about every curriculum vendor on the planet is at these conventions also, you can compare and contrast or pick and choose from many programs before you buy. You may find you want to use products from several programs and design your own curriculum from scratch, or just purchase one boxed curriculum program and stick to their recommended schedule. It's a win-win doing it this way and one stop shopping at it's best, if time and money allows.
By the way, if you choose to design your own program from scratch, get these books! They're a great starting place on how to do it:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/ and http://books.coreknowledge.org/home.php?cat=298
Also, if you are new to this, there are usually workshops at these things covering topics from how to get started, local laws, parent support, where to find co-ops and support groups, local museums, schools, parks, zoos that host homeschool programs to supplement your home program too.
Here's what I found is coming to your area. There may be others, but I'm not sure since I'm not from Nebraska, so be sure to check around:
http://www.balancingthesword.com/homeschool/conventions/c...