jibran
Wad up bro
Hi_D_Ho_Man has some cool advice, but I some other stuff to add.
Since you're budget is only $200-$300 (for right now) I would advise you to invest in knowledge, instead of gear and in the mean time increasing you're budget. Man I know you're excited and anxious to get this moving, but I would try to hold off until you can maybe double you're budget. Just read this and other forums. Search all over the internet about sampling, sequencing, mixing, mastering etc. That way when you get gear, you will already have an idea whats going on and things won't be as intimidating once you get going.
With that said, on ebay you could pick up an ASR-X or ASR-X Pro for $200-$300 (try to find a Pro version) and there you will have at you're finger tips the foundation of you're future studio.
You will be able to sample, sequence, etc and has a bunch of cool upgrades. You can save you're samples with the floppy drive or hook up a drive to the SCSI.
I don't remember if there is a headphone jack or not, but you could always hook up the asr to a home stereo system via 1/4 to rca ... just be careful you don't blow the speakers! Or you could use headphones with the stereo receiver.
So you could be laying down beats, writing lyrics for the beats and improving you're knowledge. Save up and buy a little mixer and a mic. Then get an interface and audio software and by that time you should already know you're way around the ASR-X and mixer so once you start recording, you will start off recording hot material.