RE: short course truck
Batteries and charger is easy.....Get a Thunder AC680 from HobbyPartz.com $50. Gens Ace LiPo packs....pick up a couple there too. Being new, this may sound a little confusing to you, but I'm trying to save you some grief up front: The mAh (milli-amp-hour) rating is unimportant...the bigger the number, the longer the run time. What you want to pay attention to is the "C-rating". The C-rating indicates how much current (amperage) the pack can deliver. The higher the C-rating you get, the longer the pack will last (as in lifetime) because it won't get as warm as a lower C-rated pack.
If you're looking for a short course truck, you'll want AT LEAST a 40C-rated LiPo. 50C would be better. Short course trucks are pretty big compared to some other 1/10 scale RCs. Bigger means more weight, which means a bigger motor system is needed. A bigger motor system means more Amp draw. Ergo, you need higher C-rated packs. So even with Gens Ace liPos, you're looking at $40-$48 per pack.
So your budget of $250 is pretty slim figuring your having to spend almost half your budget on batteries and a charger.
You can barely get a truck ALONE for that price. Tower Hobbies lists a Slash 2wd for $239. And that's the BRUSHED version. Not the brushless. You could get a Brushless Evader by Duratrax, but that's a Stadium Truck, not a Short Course. I think you'd best re-think your budget if you're set on a short course truck, or consider picking up a used one on eBay.