Just went through this exact tire debate and at TFT( Seabrook, NH )to boot with my Sister's car. It is a 120K 05 Impala that we didn't want to spend a ton of $$$ on but the tires had to do well in bad weather.
Mastercraft tires are a decent mid level tire( made by Cooper as others have said )and they are what I was looking at when I took her there as they are affordable and decent quality. Wanted something decent for as little $$$ as we could get away with.
The salesman actually talked me into the Milestar tires though as they were a LOT cheaper for us( you got a good deal offered with those posted prices ). It saved my Sister $100+ on 4 tires. What sold me on doing it was he recommended the tires that were cheaper repeatedly even over my objections to a no name brand. I was willing to spend the extra $$$ for the Mastercrafts but he assured me for our needs the cheaper tires would do well. Both tires were in stock and the salesman was doing a "down sell" not an "up sell" so that convinced me to try the Milestars.
I have to say they have been a pleasant surprise. The ride is very nice( smooth and quiet ), they seem stiff enough that there is no sidewall roll on corners, and they did excellent in the bad weather. I actually put them on for her like 2 months ago and the car has been used in some bad weather. Very happy with them to this point.
With that said I would probably recommend you go with the Mastercraft tires as the others have just because they are a known product with a proven track record for decent quality. They are not the best tire on the road but they are generally mid level. Seeing as you are keeping the vehicle for a long time and will put a lot of miles on they are probably the better choice.
My Sister's car will be sold within 2 years and she might put 10K on in that time frame so the cheapest tire that would handle bad weather well was our goal. The Milestars fit the bill for us. I have to say though they seem to be better than I thought they would be. Too early to judge tread wear though. If money is a problem I would consider the Milestars. If that extra $100 is not a problem then probably the known quality brand is a smarter move.
EDIT - the tires we got were the Milestar M665(
http://www.milestartire.com/m665.html )
