After seeing your post, I wanted to see what kind of 29er I could build. On JensonUSA and Greenfish Sports, I took a Surly
Karate Monkey 29er steel frame ($465) added a
Shimano LX complete build kit($499) with BB5 discs, and added a
Rockshox Reba SL 29 Dual Air fork ($418). The total came to $1433 w/free shipping on everything. The frame comes with a rigid fork and you could sell it to recoup some cost, or keep the fork in case you ever wanted to try going rigid for a while.
You could wrench the bike yourself, or see if someone would build it up. You might be able to slide in the total to right around $1500 and have a sweet bike. I think everyone agrees that Surly frames are indestructible, especially for a guy your size. Shimano LX is not super luxury, but still quality goods. The Reba SL is a fantastic fork, and you find it on much pricier 29ers. Just a thought...