Welcome to INGO from Highland! I would take a look at Glock, S&W M&P, Sig, and FNP or FNX series. These are all in about the same $400-600 price range. I'm a Glock man myself and love my G23.
There is a gun show at the Lake County Fair Grounds coming up on the 29-30th. It's a great place to handle a lot of handguns and get a feeling for what you like. The Big List of ALL Indiana Gun Shows