Hi Eric
to IceInSpace!
Unfortunately if you want one with all of those features, even $1500 isn't going to cut it.
Let's start with the observing:
If you want one that can tell you what you're looking at, or help you to find objects to observe, you can get a motorised mount with meade autostar etc, or you could get a dobsonian (manual, push-to mount) with an Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer.
The dobsonian will be cheaper (much cheaper) and is easy to use. The argo navis (once aligned) will point you in the direction of how far to move your telescope to view a particular galaxy, planet etc. The telescope would start from $400-$500 and the Argo Navis is $600-$1000.
The motorised mount telescope, $1500 won't get you much. It's probably a small ETX or similar. You're really looking at $2500-$4000 for an 8-10" SCT.
For photography:
Everything goes up in price if you want to do it well. So you really need to decide if you're keen on photography.
Keep asking questions!