In response to any naysayers, I say go for it. If you've been itching to try vinyl for so long, you'll always remain curious as to how it may sound if you don't indulge. Prepare yourself for what you're about to get into; save up the money if necessary so that you can afford the table, arm, cart, and accessories. I took the plunge a little over a year ago, and yes there were things I had to buy that I was not expecting (good cleaning materials, DIY vibration isolation, etc.). But it's all just part of the fun. Digital is ok if you don't want to spend time with audio as a true hobby. But if you find yourself saying "hmm I wish I had another hobby", then vinyl is it. Going to used record shops on the weekends to score records, tweaking the performance of your system through your own various inventive methods, learning from others how to add further tweaks and tune in your system, these are all things that keep me very busy with the hobby. But I will absolutely agree that you can easily end up spending more money than you originally thought. It all just depends on how far you want to take it.
I recommend you do what I did: buy one of the "all-in-one" packages that include tonearm and cart, and preferably have it setup by your local dealer. This way you can quickly jump into listening and not have to worry about setting up a turntable with no knowledge at all. Then as you progress, you may find that you want to make minor tweaks to the table, at which point you'll be gradually learning. I personally went for the Music Hall mmf-5.1, but they also make an mmf-2.2 which I believe is in your price range.
I recommend you do what I did: buy one of the "all-in-one" packages that include tonearm and cart, and preferably have it setup by your local dealer. This way you can quickly jump into listening and not have to worry about setting up a turntable with no knowledge at all. Then as you progress, you may find that you want to make minor tweaks to the table, at which point you'll be gradually learning. I personally went for the Music Hall mmf-5.1, but they also make an mmf-2.2 which I believe is in your price range.