I have a $45 lipo charger and it works just fine. Using jumpers to change charge rates can be confusing, but if you mess up and choose the wrong rate, it won't charge. But, I have to have a seperate balancer, which runs me about $20 more. If you can, get a charger with a built in balancer, so you don't have to hastle with seperate things. The first jump into lipos is always pricy, but once you have the basics down, the costs go down as well. Hopefully I'll finally buy a Tx that will last me for as long as I need, so then I can worry more about which plane to get than worry about which transmitter to get.
Good luck!