Well. HH pretty well covered it. It's personal choice. (granted, you might not have much experience to draw on here...)
All the mk2s I've had hands on have been absolute tackdrivers, shoot well above what they cost.
Shooting irons is a skill well worth having, and keeping in practice. If you're not too old or too blind, they'll do you fine.
As a "first rifle"... the world is your oyster. A 3-9x scope as said above will cover you for most normal shooting you're likely to do with it.
Spend a little more on the scope than you're comfortable with, and it should last until you know what else you want, and wont lose much on the resell.