Hello.
So for Elite (yay come play my game) you probably want the X52 or X52 pro (looks much nicer in black) on your budget.
Avoid the X56, it's a pile of crap and won't last very long, The Thrustmaster T.160000M is a popular choice, but I prefer a tilted throttle than a sliding one, but it's a little cheaper if you wanted to add some other goodies to your list. Hotas X is an okay "occasional" stick, but won't last long as your daily driver.
Personally I like the Warthog with pedals because once you touch one, you'll never want to use anything made of plastic ever again lol, also you'll probably never wear it out. But that's way outside your budget. (if you can swing it though, you won't regret it)
Oh also pro-tip since you're not VR'ing (yet), get TrackIR on your buy list as soon as you can. VR/TrackIR are game changers for Elite. It's worth every.single.penny.
Other than that, enjoy Elite
I totally won't stalk you or anything
Edit: read back a bit and want to address something
The X52 quality issue was when it was still under the Saitek brand, All of it is Logitech now and quality control is much better.
Not true, sadly, they still have issues, but at that price point, there's not much else. The issue is it's plastic, and wears out. Nothing you can do other than replace parts at extra cost, which will drive the price up, which takes it out of the price range. So they haven't improved it at all.
