Now the best pricing for a decent first scope that I can suggest is a Dobsonian scope with a 6" or 8" mirror from Orion (e.g. Orion XT6 - $279 or XT8 - $329.95).
The two dobsonians I suggested are great visual beginner scopes and are super for just taking out to the backyard for casual observing but will definitely hold their own at any amateur astronomy gathering. They are also easy for young people to use and operate. You can do short exposure astrophotography with them but not long exposure astrophotography (for that you need a lot more money - See "Astrophotograpphy for Web Cams - Robert Reeves").
The Dobsonian scope will be much more durable, of higher quality, and you'll be able to see all of the Messier deep sky objects (DSO's) plus many of the brighter NCG DSO's, many many stars plus: Mercury, Venus, Earth's Moon, Mars, Jupiter and it's moons, Saturn, its rings and moons, Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto, as well as, many of the minor planets, comets, and asteroids. Additionally, it's easy to transport, setup, and use (under 60 seconds from car to ground ... no kidding).
Bottom Line: any scope with less than a 6" mirror with a 1200mm focal length, IMHO, would be a waste of money. See the links below for low priced dobsonian scopes with 6" and 8" mirrors. However, the larger the aperture (size of primary objective ... like an 6", 8", 10", 12" mirror or larger) the better. Also, there are many brands of dobsonian scopes made by many different companies that you can choose from. I only offered these as examples because they are popular with our club members.
Look at the links to the www.telescope.com site that I've provided below and you'll find that they do have quite a selection of standard, push-to, goto dobsonian scopes that could fit your needs.