I've been naturally skeptical of the Holosun/china products, but frankly the proof seems to be in the pudding. The market - and many dudes than run them hard - seems to support that they have come out with a good product with a combination of user-desired that other brands don't have for the...
That Vari-x iii is nothing... you should see the stupid money clone rifle builders are paying for some of the Mark 4 varieties that were mil issue that are no longer sold commercially. Vastly more capable scopes are on the market today, and yet they are willing to shell out...
I am a big fan of Shield products. I've had good luck with several of their larger (carbine type) sights and would have more of them but they seem to not sell them in the US anymore. WTF, Sheild?
The RMS-c is a fan favorite among my coworkers - several of them carry daily and are pleased with it.
Without knowing your actual intended distances for your "long range", I'd offer this general advice:
Sacrifice magnification for glass quality if you have to in order to stay in your budget. You can get out to 1000 yrds with 10x mag for just shooting (hunting/PID requirements will likely be...
As others have mentioned, 3-15x, 4-16x mag ranges are great for sort of the "just right" porridge temp. Enough low end for easy scanning, enough high end for detail PID and distance if you want it.