this is a tough one. i've been trying to avoid dropping 1500+ on good scopes as well. bought a barska that self destructed after 200 rounds on a 308. i've heard similar stories about ncstar, bsa, and simmons. i ended up with a millett trs-1 that's doing well so far. it has parallax adj, but it only goes to 16x. falcon, and counter-sniper have parallax adjustable models that have had a decent amount of recommendations also.
what caliber weapon is it going on? if it's a 22 LR, you can use just about anything, but a 338 is gonna be a different story.