I tried the budget trainer route -- a couple of the higher end budget trainers at Performance -- before getting my Kurt Kinetic. I would use them for one winter, with the resistance progressively getting higher all winter until the trainer was unusable. Thankfully Performance has a great return policy and I was able to just turn it in for a new one, and finally for a full refund when I got tired of the annual return game.
I bought the KK three years ago and it's been great -- trouble free and consistent. If you watch carefully for them on sale, you can get one for around $230. You should definitely be able to get one used for under $200.