[Collin Fultz]

In my opinion, the best thing to do would be to contact other FRC teams in your area for advice. Company sponsorship varies regionally, and the mentors and veteran students on those teams can help you out immensely. Your cost budget seems pretty reasonable.

Now is the perfect time to start a team, and you've made a great decision to by coming to these forums (and it sounds like you did some searching before posting...kudos on that).

Never hesitate to ask for help here and with your local teams. In the end, we're all one big FIRST family and always willing to help out another family member.