Take a look at Tasco and see if they still make the World Class 1.5-4x variable. I've got one on my Contender and it's been a great scope for several years. If they have something similar, it may be OK too.
I prefer crosshairs to a red dot for hunting and prefer a red dot to crosshairs for target pistol shooting. A lot depends on how bulky you want the gun to be. For example, an ADCO red dot sight (which I recommend as good) will be quite compact on your gun but the variable scope will be big and bulky.
One of the key tradeoffs is how much of the target is obscured at a distance. A scope will still enable you to hunt squirrels at 50 yards, but a red dot will obscure too much of the animal for precision aiming. The red dot should be OK out to about 25 yards. Another thing I don't like about red dots on a hunting scope is that you need to adjust the dot brightness when light on the target varies. This is bad for me because I often still hunt. Others have no problem with it.
Another attractive thing about red dots is price. You can get them cheap (although good ones go for $100 to $150, like decent scopes do.)
One thing to be said for the Leupold 2x scope is its compactness and light weight. It's got adequate magnification for most any application except precision shooting at distances over about 75 yards. If you can get one used at a good price, you won't go wrong even though it's still probably more than you were planning on spending.
Whatever you do, don't get one with a lot of magnification. I keep mine at 2x for hunting and only use 4x when shooting off a bench for load testing.
I like Burris Zee rings on a Weaver mount. And contrary to what some will say, you absolutely do need loc-tite on the screws. I've had too many problems with scopes that weren't loc-tited (using the blue, removable kind)
