Welcome to the club Justin
You were like me a few months back tossing up between the Lancer and the Impreza. I had my eyes on the Impreza for ages and even told a few people thats the way I was going to go. Then I test drove it and instantly fell out of love. As Jake pointed above it is a lot heavier with the AWD and it drove me mad when driving.
Just little things like at the lights, for a smaller car compared to the Lancer it took a lot more time to get to 60. (Which is something you may not mind but personally it did). And even then being a 2.0L it just didn't feel big enough for the car after that. Then there was price.For the base model I could get the Lancer SX and add a few extra accessories and still come under the Impreza's price. Not only did this lead me to the Lancer but when I went for the test drive I instantly fell in love with it and could see myself driving it.
If you want ideas on model depends on what you want in your Lancer. Mine is the SX which is the one above the Base model ES. You get a couple of luxuries eg: Spoiler, Alloy Wheels ('16'), Leather Steering Wheel, Chrome exhaust tip and Audio controls on the steering wheel. I'm sure the others can tell you about there models.
All I can say is a car is really personal taste. A car can look good to you on paper and get great reviews from friends and family but its the test drive that makes your final decision. Take both for a test drive. Even test drive cars your not looking at so you can get a taste for your price range and compare.