There's nothing wrong with meeting up with willing forum members at SS or BA and putting some rounds down the pipe with them, as well as renting out the options that the range offers. There are plenty of quality firearms with a reasonable price tag, narrowing down to one is that hardest for some. There are a lot of places that will tend to treat you like less of a customer without a p2p in hand and ready to buy. You cannot go wrong with the supporting vendors located towards the bottom of the forum thread section. You can also learn a lot from just reading some of the feedback from ranges and shops in this section. Places locally have their strengths and weaknesses.
for the budget minded other than buying used, Glock, S&W M&P, CZ come to mind for quality handguns on a modest budget.