If you're interested in starting to get into some imaging sooner rather than later I'd recommend an equatorial mount like an AZ-EQ6 and work from there. You could load it up with a C11 or fast 10" newt (at least) or just your camera and lens for wide field.
I'm probably going to get flamed for saying this, but with a few exceptions the (limited number of) objects I've seen through much larger scopes than 10-12" tend to be erm underwhelming given the additional cost, size, weight, etc that they entail, especially if you mostly observe from the city. Maybe I live a sheltered life
