A funny thing happens on forums like this. Folks come out of the woodwork to promote their favorite guns.
Many people who are budget-minded promote inexpensive guns as being on the same quality level as pricier products. I'd recommend you go to the 1911 forum where the forums are broken down by manufacturer.
http://forum.m1911.org/
A recent perusal of the Rock Island/Armscor forum at least half the subject lines had to do with guns that required some sort of fix.
The Charles Daly forum was about one-third about malfunctions. I was surprised to see very few complaints in the Taurus forum.
The Springfield forum had more complaints than any of the other three I've mentioned. Colt was interesting because I only saw one post about a malfunction.
I tend to push Norincos for entry level Government models because they are so well built and fairly available under $500. The Norinco forum only had one post about a malfunction.
I suggest that rather than asking people here what they like that you check out the various makes and models through the brand-specific forums at 1911.org. Those are people asking real questions about guns they already own.
Personally, I like very expensive 1911s. I don't have any worth less than $1,000. The only one that doesn't have a the barrel replaced with a match barrel is a Norinco. Why? Better steel than Colt, Kimber or Baer and it is chrome lined to boot. Of course that gun only has nine original parts - the frame, slide, barrel, link, plunger tube, sear, disconnector, extractor and ejector.
I'll be honest though, don't listen to me. I, like everyone else who will post here, have my own preferences that may or may not meet your criteria. See what actual owners are saying about the issues they have with their own guns.