Lexus vs Toyota - Car Buying Question

Hi All,

Wondering what the big different between Lexus and Toyota is. I've seen some post saying an ES is like a Camry. I am interesting in getting an ES 350, ES300H or IS350, pending some test drives, but wondering if I would be paying more for the Lexus name, or is there really a big difference between a Lexus and Toyota.

I live in Michigan, so winter driving will be important for me, although from what I'm seeing here - a good set of snow tires will do the trick.

Any thoughts are welcome here and I like to know as much as I can going into it, and it's usually a long process for me because I can't really pull the trigger on things without months and months of research lol.