An 8" GOTO dobsonian is probably close to your budget and later on you could look for an astro video camera, such as the IMX224 or the Revolution Imager. With that you can take short vids up to 30 secs exposure (before field rotation sets in) and stack to a single image.
An 8" or 10" dob can fit across the backseat of a car, the base needs a good bit of boot space, better if you have an RV. The best scope is the one you will use the most, that's portability, set up time, weight and so on.
Look at
www.andrewscom.com.au website, there's usually a sale on.
Go to a meet up if you can find one in your area. Good luck. :-)