Mr. Deer Hunter, read the posts before you make your post. Ppl had already asked him about his needs.

Bowhunter- Personally, I would either look for a used rifle, like MR.Deer said a nice Remington 700 or winchester model 70 would work great. If looking for a new rifle, both Savage and Marlin make a very nice rifle in the under $400 range. With what you have in mind a .270, .308, .30-06, 7mm-08, is the area you wanna be looking in. Good luck and let us know what you pick!
-Jake

Right now, the Savage Edge ($375-399) in a 308WIN would be my suggestion.
It's accurate out of the box, plenty so for your applications, ammunition is fairly inexpensive and readily available, it's a short action so you can rack a round a little faster than a long action for follow up shots on a second hog or deer if you get that quick, and while it doesn't have the accutrigger that other models have, everyone I have spoken with that owns one loves theirs.
You'll even have a few bucks left for a decent scope and rings for it!
The 308WIN is ample cartridge for most everything you want to do with it too.

Why pay the same for one as you can get the model 10 which is a better made rifle with the accu trigger though? I think you can find Edges cheaper though.

you don't need something too big for hogs or deer. i LOVE LOVE LOVE my winchester 243.

but a 7mm-08 would be awesome for you and easy to shoot. a 25-06 or 257 will do the job every time. ots of people, including the famous jack oconner loved the 270, i had a remington 710 in 270 and hated it though. remember, it's placement, not power that kills stuff. you could have a 600 NE and if you don't hit it, you probably won't scare it to death.

and oh yeah, don't cheap out on your optics. you'll regret it forever.

the combo they sell for the remmingtons at wallyworld aren't bad for the money.

For a beginner I'd have to say the 30-06 is probably the best all around starting caliber out there. The options are many and if you want to hunt multiple animals with the same caliber it's as versatile as any made until you become more experienced with choosing a caliber to fit the bill for the hunt in mind or personal preferences take over.

As far as rifle selections many starter rifles are going to be as good as the others. Winchesters, TC, Remington, Ruger, Marlin, Savage. I honestly believe until you have shot a lot of rifles and spent a lot of time at the ranges and hunting any of them will work just fine until your level of experience dictates what you believe fits you the best. I still go on the theory of finding a buddy or lots of buddy's that have guns and shoot theirs first before buying one so you have an idea of what you like before spending money. There's plenty of guys willing to help you out in that department at your local gun ranges. Look them up and go in with a positive attitude. Good luck.