Hi Daniel,
If you go to
http://astrobin.com/ you can search for the type of telescope or mount to see what type of pictures people are taking with that equipment.
For ~ 3k and nebula, the Orion ED80T CF seems a good bet. Either the SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro or NEQ6 in case you wanted to upgrade to a heavier scope in the future. That should leave a few hundred left over for accessories!
Just search astrobin with "Orion ED80T" and see the images.
Cheers,
Stacy.