I was in the same boat quite recently myself. If you were to get a Denon with Air Play, it would run you at $549.99. Or, you could buy a bottom line Denon receiver for $249.99. With the extra cash, you could spend more on speakers, or buy a Playstation 3 for $249.99 or an Xbox 360 for $199.99. As for the speakers, go out and listen to a whole bunch for a few hours at least. Buy what you like best...unless the speakers are Bose.
Currently I have a Project-Debut III turntable with a Sumiko Gold Pearl cartridge. List price is around $350 for the turntable and $125 for the cartridge, but I managed to snag them individually for $410 plus tax. Please note that the turntable comes with a cartridge and that my purchase of the Sumiko cartridge was just an upgrade.
Good luck