Hi Matt,
let me begin by being one of the first to welcome you to this great site! WELCOME
There will be many here with more experience than I who will surely give you some good advice.
Its always exciting when you decide to buy your first scope but it certainly won't be your last.
Most will advise you (and I agree) to buy a Dobsonian which are really easy to use, simply point anywhere at the sky and look through the viewer. Personally the smalllest you would want to go is 6" in diameter, if you can go larger do it, the larger the diameter the more you see
but its more expensive of course
Your budget is a little limiting so you may need to look at ebay, gumtree or even the classifieds section on this site for 2nd hand. I think a good starting point is around $400 (please someone confirm or correct me if i'm wrong).
My first scope was a 6" Newtonian on a equitorial mount, no electrics no goto, all manual. It was tricky to use and personally I wished I had gone the Dobsonian first.
This weekend and the next the moon will be mostly in hidding, so local astronomy clubs will be or should be out there observing at their local dark site, find out where your nearest ASTRO CLUB is, call them and go out and look through their scopes. Most if not all Amatuer Astronomers want to share their passion and are happy to let you look through their scope and we especially love it when your eyes pop and your jaw hits the ground eg.
You've probably already done some research, if you haven't read an article on this site called 'General Principal for choosing your first scope' I suggest you do ->
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-260-0-0-1-0.html
Lastly try to spend your money wisely, most of us have fallen into the (self inflicted) trap of rushing in and buying the wrong equipment and quickly realising we want or
need something better
All the best
Carlos.