In your budget, you can have fun with either a 120mm or 150mm Skywatcher refractor on equatorial mount for not too much money.
I think the 120mm is about $999 and with dual axis drives $1145.
The 150mm is $1199 and with dual axis drives $1399.
See this link to Andrews Communications, though others may sell them too if you search around,
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm
Cheers
Nick
PS I've used a 150mm Skywatcher many times, and it performs very well, especially for the money. You get contrasty views of deep sky objects and can push the magnification up to 200X or more.