Yeah, the Taurus has moved up a class to full size, vs the mid size it was before, mostly due to not being too close in size to the smaller Fusion.
And while the SHO is a great offering, the "normal" SEL is well equipped and properly sized for a $30k family sedan these days.
I drovre this the other day, just to get a feel for it:
It's an SEL version, extensively optioned, with Sync, blind spot warning system, etc. etc., sticker with everything was $30,995. Yeah, it's taller than my 740, but that's so it can have a better seating position, with more normal (easier) ingress and egress, and also accomodate the "stadium seating" in the rear, where the rear sets have a great view forward. As a family sedan, it feels good, and you'd only notice it's heft coming out of a lightweight spoorts car, which it's not supposed to compete with.