Your mission profile calls for 700 nm trips. The new 4-place airplanes you
could get for $200,000, for example a Cessna 172,would not come close to
having the range to make this flight nonstop. And with a stop thrown in a
700 nm trip in a 120 kt airplane would probably take around 7 hours. If you
make this trip frequently, you should probably be looking for a somewhat
faster, longer range airplane. With your budget you could really choose
anything from later model Piper Arrows (140 kts and more than enough range)
or high performance fixed gear singles (Cessna 182, Piper Dakota, around 140
kts but may be marginal in range) to high performance heavy singles
(Bonanza, Cessna 210). The latter could make your 700 nm trips nonstop in a
comfortable 4.5 hours

Unless you live and fly in the Southwest, you either have or will want to
get an instrument rating. Choose an airplane that is already well equipped
with modern avionics, or budget maybe $20K-$30K for an upgrade.

--
-Elliott Drucker