Stick with a hardtail, get a full later when your skills are honed and you have twice as much $.
I'd look into 5-600$ bikes and possibly have the floor-room shock switched out @ the lbs - (often the 'packaged' bikes have entry level shocks.)
Go a bit below your budget -you need a helmet, bike multi-tool...maybe some gloves.
Some companies to look into:
Kona
Specialized
Trek
Norco
Davinci
Brodie
Go for companies who specifically were mtb builders first.
Ride as many frame geometries you can.