It looks like that at 9' from the front of the lens, the largest screen size you can obtain is a 95" diagonal. This is based on the projection calculator at
www.projectorcentral.com
Projectors at that price range definitely have some limitations, but there are several projectors with excellent specs around the same price (Panasonic, Sony, Sanyo). Don't forget the new Sharp XV-Z2000 will be out soon with a HD2+ chip in it for a reasonable price as well and should definitely be on your short list.
I checked out about 30 projectors before getting mine and feel now that I would have been about as happy with ANY of the competitors as well. There is a lot of really good stuff out there now, and it gets better all the time. So, if you don't go with Sony, you may get more of what you want in a projector at about the same price.
Just make sure the projector has full ventilation around it - that is THE most important thing in the life of not only projector bulbs, but of internal components as well.