Rob:
My consulting fee is exhorbitant. Send all excess funds you have to me.
Take your time with your building process.
1. buy the rifle, bases, rings and scope.
2. Your rifle may come with a scope and rings (mine did). Keep them for a .22 you might have or some other inexpensive rifle. Or in the alternative, sell them in the classified section of this website. This way you can recoup some of your costs.
3. Mount your new scope in your new bases and rings. If you use the Burris Signature rings/bases, set up the rings with the +20 insert in the rear and the -10 in the front (don't worry if you don't understand this now. when you receive your rings and inserts and read the directions it will be apparent).
4. Have your rifle boresited (most shops will do this for free) and without making any changes or further investment, go shoot the rifle. Find out if it has the accuracy potential you're looking for. My rifle shot .75moa at 100 yards right out of the box.
5. If the rifle will shoot, start with the least expensive upgrades first. Start with adjusting the trigger. A gunsmith can do this for you for ~$60. The lowest my smith could adjust my trigger was 2.5lbs. That's fine for a beginner. As you advance, you will be able to handle a lighter trigger. Then you will need to replace the factory trigger.
6. Recrown your barrel. This is an often missed upgrade on factory barrels. The crown of your barrel is the tip or muzzle. The last thing that touches your bullet before it is air born. Often factory barrel crowns are not square to the bore. Recrowning can be done for ~$75
7. as you upgrade your rifle, keep shooting it and assess whether the changes you are making are doing what you want.
8. Next step will be to replace the factory stock. While you're out shooting, ask all the guys around you about their rifles and the stock they have. Ask if you can shoot their rifle. This will give you a hands-on feel for the type of stock you might want and more importantly maybe - the features you don't want. For instance, I was pretty well sold on the B&C Varmint stock, until I was on a range one day and a guy had one there. He let me shoot his rifle. I was disappointed to find I had to lift my cheek to be able to see thru the scope. This told me I wanted a stock with an adjustable cheek piece or add a bolt-on cheek piece to the B&C. Generally speaking, you're looking at ~$300+ for a new stock.
9. Whatever stock you choose, you will want to consider bedding your action into the stock. Depending on how much bedding work needs to be done, a gunsmith will charge you ~$60 to $175 for the work.