I just wrote a long post that got eaten by the page being timed out. Grumble. Here's a shorter summary.

Image stabilization is a nice feature, but for you, have a look at a tripod. They're cheap, they work with most any camera (save the smallest point-and-shoot models), and they stabilize the camera perfectly. What they don't do is stabilize the subject (damn people moving all on their own!).

For that, you've got three options:

- a faster lens (I'm quite happy with my 50mm f/1.8 prime, which I got for $100)
- a flash or flash system of some kind (at the extreme, you can permanently install radio-controlled strobes in the room)
- higher ISO (helps any camera see in the dark; costs you something in image quality; the Canon 5D is the present king of high-ISO performance, but most any new D-SLR will do very well)