The original Prusa i3 is about quality. They don't cheap out on parts, they do everything right and that is evident in the price (as well as the current wait time). Clones such as Monoprice Maker Select and Wanhao Duplicator i3 (NOT Wanhao USA) are good substitutes at a lower price.

If you don't mind doing upgrades and tinkering, good clones will be fine. Most modifications can be printed on the printer itself, and anything else can generally be bought for a couple dollars on Amazon or a Hardware store. Print quality out of the box is usually really good, most upgrades will be done so you can print more exotic filaments, print faster, etc. If you just want to get the printer and not worry about making any changes to it, the Prusa I3 MK2 is the way to go.