$1200 is really steep.
You can get some incredible deals by just placing you work up for bid on one of the many freelance sites out there. I've had some great design and layout work done for peanuts on these sites. You do have to spend some time checking peoples portfolios and reviews, but you can save a lot of money by hiring a freelancer.
Here are a couple of the more popular sites:
http://www.freelancer.com/
http://www.elance.com
There are many more … just use Google.