hi i too have a rascal great little cars i havent yet broken a thing on mine, at your price range for a transmiter i'd be looking at an Acom Techniplus there no advantage from having a wheel or stick controller its mainly on prefrence. I still have the glo start it come with but even though i have rechargables in it they still go flat quick so i recommend buying a new one, also i dont think you can fit a hump pack in the box so i recommend going on ebay and buying vapex 1100mah aaa batteries i use them and they last ages, also i would get a fail safe just in case
hope thats helped you a bit