I used to be a firm believer in a heavy reticle like a Zeiss or Swaro #4 and used them with very good results. Back then, the illuminated reticles not only were too bright, but the lit-up portion often covered enough surface area that even the lowest setting would negatively affect one's vision in poor lighting conditions. But all that has changed.
There are several scopes that offer traditional reticles in which a dot in the center illuminates. They are small, non-obtrusive and offer quicker target acquisition than the standard reticle alone -- at least in my experience.
Cameraland currently has the Leica ERi 2.5-10x42/4-a at a huge savings...something like 899 shipped. I ran a 3-12x50 through the paces, and I can tell you that these truly are alpha optics and compete with the best of the best. And the illumination system is one of the best as well. There are several others worthy of mention, including Kahles, SB, Zeiss and Meopta, but for the price of the Leica, there is no better value available in the alpha category.
The Leupold VX-R and VX-6 don't quite match up from a purely optical standpoint, but they are still very good and likely would serve you well also.
