One thing that has not been discussed....The limitations of the human eye....
You are aware that as you get older (around 45) your pupil will not open as large (dilate) as it does when you are 25.....So all that money in a scope might be wasted...If you pupil won't dialate over 4mm, your eye will not be able to use all that extra light that the scope brings to it...Go see your eye doctor, get him to tell you how large your pupil will dilate...My vision is terrible (worse than 20/200)...I'm 51...I had to have emergency laser surgery to repair a torn retna about 6 years ago, which left me with a "floater"...I can still see to shoot a deer 15 minutes after legal shooting time, the larger reticle I had installed in my scope has helped a tremendously....

One other point....a couple of years ago I bought a pair of Nikon ATB binos in 8x42s...Money well spent....I spend more time using binos than the scope...Leave enough money to include buying a pair of quality binoculars...They come in mighty handy after legal shooting hours to let you know where you need to move to be able to get on the deer for the next hunt....Especially when hunting over soybeans, peanuts and corn fields....

Get your buddies to bring their setups over one evening and compair all of them, 30-45 minutes after sundown....Then you have a good basis for comparison...