mtandy89, welcome to the board!
Lots of good advice already in the prior quotes.
If you are serious about recording, then start with an scalable setup that you can grow with. You will not get the setup of your dreams in a day as you know. It takes time in piecing together and accumulating many of the rigs you see in some of the signatures on the forum as well as from threads discussing particular recorders, stands, mic's and so on.
If you are going to be recording at various taper friendly events, you may want to consider starting with a deck 1st of which would meet your needs and patch from others until you have the $ for mic.'s. What I mean by scalable is to get a recorder that's capable of being easily expanded or upgraded depending on your future Mic's and Mixers/Pre's based upon digital input optical input, xlr or 1/4" in's and such that will ultimately follow on your recording accessory upgrade list. Who doesn't have a monthly bill to paypal, sweetwater or B&H to name a few? It gets addictive, to the point of daily visits to Trew Audio, Gotham and a few other Location Sound Equipment Sales, Rentals & Service for Film & Video Production sites.
Some great deals out there on recorders....do the homework and check the websites for the spec pages and compare what's out there that will ultimately meet your needs.
BTW, a Zoom H6 and H5 are not bad to start off with, especially if you are looking to spend only $300.
Enjoy the forum, and look for the "Team" section, as you will probably find a local group to your area to discuss local events. Know your fellow local taper....you never know when you may need a spare AA battery, patch or even a Velcro tie at an event!