I personally feel that the best 1911 for the dollar is the Dan Wesson Razoback Heritage series. You can find these guns for about $1100 to $1200 OTD. The next step up is the Pointman series.
They will have no MIM. They will have a forged frame and slide. They will have a level of detail found on semi-custom pistols from the "Big 3". They will have crisp clean triggers from the factory right around 4.5 lbs. It will have night sights, extened thumb safety, a nicely fitted beavertail, no front serrations, no huge billboard and a 70 series firing system. Their QC is generally very good. There will be an occasional issue but they have a decent service rep if there is a problem.
These guns are 90% of the way to a semi-custom gun like a Ed Brown or Les Baer at almost half the price. When you break them down they are dimensionally correct. The parts are well finished prepped and fitted to the gun. There is a level of hands on work that is not present in some of the guns at the $800 level. The detail work on this pistol is very close to what you get at the semi-custom level. It is a step below but IMHO but that is not a big step.
This gun will be capable of greater accuracy than 99% of shooters, the same can be said of most 1911s but that is for another thread, and it will be a reliable gun. Now for many buyers the step up about $300 is not worth it. For many a RIA, SA range officer or Ruger will suit their needs but for others like myself the quality of the DW line makes them the sweet spot. Everyone have their own point of diminishing returns. For me in 1911s it is right around $1300 to $1400. After that point I find I am not getting enough "extra" for my money to justify the additional cost. YMMV
The only drawback is that they only come in stainless. I personally would love to see it in a black finish but at DW that adds about $300. You could always have it Ionbonded or Tefloned later down the road if you wanted to.