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Jase, my first 'guide scope' was an old binocular front lens assembly and a $15 webcam so let your 'try things out' nature explore other options.
The OTA was a plastic Xerox toner tube and the focusser off a cheap kids plastic scope.
The cheapest good CCD is an ZWO ASI 120MC (One Shot Colour) at about $300 imported and is very capable on planets\lunar and can be made to work on DSO if you get clever. So not astronomically (hah!) out of reach.
So go for it with the Nikon and widefeild. You could also look into Back Yard Nikon, a piece of software put out by the same guy who wrote Back Yard EOS for Canon. Computer control for your Nikon for astroimaging. If it is anywhere near as good as his BYEos software which I use then it will make things a heck of a lot easier and teach you heaps more aswell. Cost about $30 -$50 IIRC depending on whether you go with the Premium version or not. Well worth it..
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