Well, in all honesty, I'd probably try to shoot for a $400 rifle and a $200 scope. Then I'd try to scape some couch change together to get that scope budget up to about $240 and get a Weaver Grand Slam 3-10x40. At a lower price than that, the Nikon ProStaff might be worth a look. At a lower price than that, my friend has a Simmons Aetec that he's moved around a couple times - it's currently on his new 300WSM which is his current favorite rifle which says something... I've shot a couple rifles with that scope on it and was generally impressed with it. At a lower price than that, I've never had a minutes problem with my Bushnell Dusk and Dawn on my 22 Magnum but note, that isn't really as much a recommendation as a testimonial.
The stainless obviously raises the price of the rifle, almost to an unbearable lever in this price range. You can get a Tikka blued synthetic Whitetail Hunter for $400 but the stainless synthetic T3 is $500. The Howa Lightning would be right about $400 and you could get a Savage with a flimsy stock for $400 but the Tikka is a tremendous step up from the Howa or Savage.
If it were me, I'd make the concession and get the blued Tikka on closeout while I could. And I'd put one of those great Grand Slam scopes on there. Wipe the gun down when you get home and clean it out of it's stock if the weather was particularly nasty. This combo will be top notch, probably unbeatable for the price... think of it as a Sako with a VariX III for 1/3rd the price. And it will last longer than you will.