You make a good point about the scope. It is a critical part of the package. I would opt for nothing less than a Leupold Vari-x II. I generally figure the scope should cost nearly the same as the rifle.
I have a hard time recommending the Savage as an all around rifle. The are bargain priced, very accurate, and have a nice trigger, but, my brother has several and says that he would never use them for serious hunting for trophies or dangerous game. He has simply had too many reliability problems with feeding. He is a certified armorer and firearms instructor and a pretty good semi-pro gunsmith, so I take his advice seriously. This is why I recommended the Ruger. There are lots of good guns out there, but as I do not know NewJersey_Joe’s experience level, I hesitate to recommend a used rifle. There are often bargains after deer season, as has been mentioned. If he is willing to get into reloading, almost any relatively modern deer caliber or better could be made to work.
Savage is building good accurate rifles with great reliability now, but I still won’t own one. They’re still the ugliest rifle ever built.