RE: RT-X 27 or T-MAXX?
Budget and Racing won't work.
The Aftershock is weaker by far than the LST2. The money you save will be quickly eaten by needing to fix it more often.
The TMAXX handles worse than the Revo and is less race capable.
Saving some $ isn't bad, but it isn't going to be easy to be competitive in racing when you cheap out on the truck/parts/electronics for it.
If you are really saving pennies, I'd point to a Truggy over an MT as a racer.