Good morning Steven, GREAT question!
I am sure so many people are faced with this exact dilemma. Scope choice is something VERY personal. I think one could tackle this by first writing down EXACTLY what you expect to do with your AR.
When creating your “Scope List” I’d start with your budget then move on down from there.
Be very honest with yourself, how many times do you REALLY shoot at 1000 yards, how often do you hunt open country or brush country, do you hunt early morning late evening, night hunt?
One must also consider the mounting options, just as daunting as scope choice. That’s one thing that makes the AR platform so awesome is the versatility of it! Here is a link to a site that tackles a lot of the “best scope for the AR” questions… I hope this helps:
shootingandsafety.com/best-ar-15-scopes-reviews/

If you want to shoot CBQ courses your choices will be different than if you hunt. Probably the best choice for everything is a 1X6.
youtube.com/watch?v=N6TWakYKtP0

Decide what you want to do with the firearm, and how you want it to handle first. You will want a minimum of 1x scope power for every 100 yds you want to shoot at. Realistically, the father you want to shoot, the larger the scope, and the heavier/bullet it gets. Shotgun from the bench, that doesn't matter, but carrying it afield it does.

I agree with Mike K. I have a 3-9 for if I want to use it for hunting and a StrikeEagle from Vortex for range plinking and home defense. Who says you can only have one optic. With today's quick release you can easily switch scopes without too much worry of losing zero. A good Nikon Prostaff will run you $200 and a decent 1-6 or 1-4 another $329.

You need to narrow down your choices depending on what you will use it for. Long range, short range, plinking? What's your budget? Once you decide on that you can then start narrowing down your options.

A good article with positive feedback can be found here: at3tactical.com/blogs/news/11491881-ar-scopes-what-is-the-best-scope-for-your-ar-15