Ok, that helps. If you are planning at shooting out to 500 yards or so and some varminting, a variable 3x9 or 4x12 scope would be a bit better for those uses. Avoid any of the tacticool scopes as they will generally be more expensive at a given price point. You might do well to go to a local gunshop and buy the scope there as some will mount them and bore sight them for you as a service. A high powered scope not mounted properly will just generate frustration as you don't know whether it is the rifle, base, scope rings, or the scope that could be causing inaccuracy.
This has an overview of scope features that might be useful, you can ignore the paid advertising on the scopes at the bottom,
https://scopesreviews.com/best-long-range-rifle-scopes/ and it will tell you what features that you might like on a scope so you can enter it into a search engine.
What I would do is go to Amazon and Optics Planets, do a search on scopes by price with variable features and then read the reviews. At $75 or below, you are going to find some complaints--obviously, I would pay attention to any negative reviews that are repeated on the same issue as that would be a problem. Once you have identified potential items, then find a local gun store (lgs) with that list and try to find comparables and whether or not the store will mount it and bore sight it for you. It is not rocket science to mount a scope but it helps to have someone experienced to do it the first time and a lgs would be more likely to take the return if damaged in installation etc.
I learned on iron sights and I understand your issues. The major problem adapting from iron sights to high powered scopes is something called lost in the scope so it will take a bit of practice to avoid it using high powers but nowadays, the variables are often cheaper than a fixed scope and only slightly less rugged for the most part.
Loonwulf lives in Hawaii so it will take a while for him to show up but he is a good guy and has actually tested quite a few budget scopes in the rain and humidity there.
Don't be alarmed if they move this post to scopes though.