I agree with Rob, with your budget if you are interested in purely visual astronomy (at least for the time being) then go with a larger dob.
If I had that kind of money I would consider saving up a few hundred more and getting a 16" GSO from Andrews Communications ($2699) which comes with some basic eyepieces and other gear to get you started.
However - you will need to learn collimation with dobs and while not difficult, can be overwhelming when starting out.
I have a 10" dob at the moment, and am seriously considering upgrading to a 16" after only a year. If you're after DSOs (where my interest lies also) then you'll want the largest scope you can possibly transport/handle.
The smaller scopes (which I also considered) are great for photographing DSOs but will not be anywhere near as useful for visual astronomy.
You could get a 10" or 12" truss tube (Skywatcher) for around $900 and $1500 respectively (though I don't know if these come with eyepieces etc like the GSO's do?).
If you got a 10" GSO scope you could add Argo Navis for ~$1200 also - this will really help you out with finding those DSOs.
With my 10" scope I have seen many galaxies (though not like you see in photos!) and other DSOs which have really got me excited about astronomy.
Good luck deciding, I'm sure others will have ideas about refractor scopes which may sway you towards those in the end, I can only make suggestions based on my own research this time last year and what I decided
Cheers!