Don't listen to people who go on about the GRE. It is not the final arbiter of your application. I have a friend who scored a 750V, 800Q and 5.5. He was shut out of PhD programs. The most important thing you can do is have a kick-ass writing sample and excellent LOR's from professors who know your work. The writing sample will be read if it is good. It will be thrown in the trash if it is trash.
MA programs are great for people who have no philosophy undergrad (like me) or for people who came from programs that no one has ever heard of. But like many here have said, make sure you try to get into a funded position. I had to pay half my tuition my first semester and since then I've been fully funded (it wasn't much, but I was able to get through debt free). I now have one offer from a top 50 on PGR and a fellowship offer at a school not on the PGR, plus I'm still waiting to hear back from several top schools.