What do you intend to hunt and where do you intend to hunt it? That should help determine the caliber and optics. Since you are from Rhode Island where I don't think you can hunt with a centerfire rifle, I suspect you plan on traveling.

A couple of suggestions. Don't ignore the used market. Lots of folks trade in rifles for the sake of getting the latest. Believe it of not, the 30-06 (the 06 stands for 1906) is still a modern cartridge. That old J.C. Higgins sitting in rack is likely a pretty good rifle if it is in decent shape. If you are hunting white tails in the bush a 30-30 is hard to beat. Similarly don't write off used optics. There are also good reasonably priced new optics to be had. Someone suggested Swift. I can't speak to their scopes but their binoculars are pretty good. The new Redfields, now Leupold's bargain line, are also pretty good.