You can get any number of good 1911 pistols for under $1000.00
COLT Combat Elite $989.00 out the door.
COLT Commander $730.00 out the door.
Both were bought from the same dealer here in VA. The Commander was bought in Dec of last year and the Combate Elite in April of this year. Colt has few other models that fit under 1K. The new 70 Series, any of the 1991 80 Sereis base guns and all of the XSE line althou some of the XSE's (like my CE) will bump 1K mark out the door with taxes depending on the shop's mark up.
Additionally I see Dan Wesson's for around $980-$990, but tax may push the out the door price slightly over.
Kimber has a few models in the $700ish range.
Springfield Armory "Loaded models" cost about $800-$850 around here. The Springer Mil-Spec cost about $600-650. The Springer GI a bit below that.
Rock Island/Metro Arms/Hi Standard and other Armscor clones run about $400-$500.
I know the Taurus's are priced under 1K but I've never even bothered to give them a second glance so I don't know their price. Same with the newer Para's.
Of those listed, I've owned a number of COLT, a number of Springer's , (1)Kimber Tactical Pro II and (1) Para Ordance P16/40 in the past. I had bad luck with the Kimber and the Para (neither company could make either gun run correctly after numerouse trips back for service/repair, I finally got tired of fooling w/them and sold them).... one of my Springers had to go back to correct a failure to extract problem. They fixed it on the first try and the service dept was easy to deal with. My COLT Combat Elite recently had to go back to COLT for a recall on the safety lever (althou it was working perfectly) - works like it did when I sent it off and the service dept was quick and easy to deal with. This is just my personal experience. Others may vary.
Will