Buy the best scope you can afford for your application.
A guy that hunts 2 days a year would not buy a $2000. dollar rifle. Somebody that hunts 30 days a year might, and it would be worth it to him to buy a $500 dollar scope which would work in many applications.

A guy that just wants to own a nice rifle but doesn' t really hunt much or in varied conditions doesn' t need to spend much on a scope unless he just wants to.
EX: he may spend $1000 on a nice Weatherby (or whatever) but he knows he only hunts out of treestands on his brothers ranch and the range he will be shooting is 200 yards or less. He could get by just fine with a $150 dollar scope.

I have a $2000 rifle with a $250 dollar scope on it and a $200 dollar rifle with a $500 dollar scope on it. These rifle and scope combination match the uses for the rifles and meet my personal needs.
Don' t let other people tell you how much you spend on a scope, buy what meets your needs.