1. There's no such thing as a perfect telescope--some do different jobs better than each other. Bigger aperture is more important than maximum magnification, but more size = more cost and weight.
2. You can pay a lot for one that works well.
3. You'll also need a tripod.
4. you'll also need some eyepieces.
5. Check out Astromart.com classifieds for used scopes.
6. Magnification = focal length of the scope divided by focal length of the eyepiece, but *useful* magnification is a function of the aperture; maybe 2X the aperture in millimeters?

A real pricey option would be the Televue refractors mentioned above. I love them and have one myself. But they're typically over $1,000 *used*. A very good starter scope would be the Televue 85mm (used; new these are over $2,000), and you may never outgrow it.

If I were starting out, from a cost standpoint I'd probably get a Celestron, Meade or Orion reflecting telescope. These are mid-range manufacturers and reflectors catch a lot of light for their price. More light = better stuff to see. One example:



This type of scope you can move up from and it'll still have a use for you, but long term you'd want higher quality. 8-10" reflectors are really great at collecting light but are typically heavy and tall, and have to take an hour or so sitting outside to reach the same temperature as the ambient air before becoming useful.

There's another type, called a Schmidt Cassegrain, or just Cassegrain or cadadioptric. For a cheaper price, these have more aperture than refractors like Televue, and are smaller, but are a bit heavier and expensive than reflectors of similar size. I have a 9.25" one of these, and with that much aperture it sees much fainter objects than my 4" Televue. 4-6" aperture is a great starting point for these, and a number are available as "go-to" telescopes that find stuff in the sky for you. You could outgrow this but it's a cool feature.

You can always get the low end Meade / other scopes at Costco for the holidays. They don't capture a lot of light, and even though they'll say they can do hundreds of times of magnification, with just a little bit of light, it's like magnifying a bad photocopy. This sort of scope tends to get tossed in the trash eventually, but for $150-$200 if it's something the kids don't stick with, not a lot lost.

Feel free to BM me.