I am looking for a bolt action rifle that will shoot MOA and not cost an arm and a leg, probably in .308. From most of my perusing on the web, most people recommend Savage (or Stevens) or Remington 700 rifles.

What are your thoughts? Any alternatives?

The Savage or the Remy is the way to go.  I finally went with the Remington 700 just because of more upgrade options.  Also I didnt care for the Accu-trigger on the Savage. 

I got to hold the 700P today with the Hogue stock, really soft recoil pad(?), and bull barrel. It felt kinda heavy for a polymer stocked bolt-action rifle. It did carry pretty nicely though and I bet the recoil would be pretty soft with that butt, much softer than the Savage 110 I shot. Next time I head down to Sports Authority, I'll try out their Savages.

I too thought long and hard about a bolt gun.  The other reason why I went remington is because of the stock.  I shoot a Remy PSS which comes with a H-S Precision stock already vs wanting to change out the stock later on the 110.  If you were holding a 700 with a Hogue stock and a bull barrel Im thinking you were looking at a Remington SPS Tactical. 20" barrels are nice, I would cut my 26" barrel on my PSS if I wasnt shooting 300 Win Mag. 

If your gonna shoot 308, think about reloading!  Its not all that expensive to get set up.  A Lee single stage, which is what I use, can be about $150 for a kit, comes with the press, powder measure, powder scale, etc. 

Just do yourself a favor, dont shoot one of these!
http://www.gaprecision.net/ga-precision-2009-custom-rifles/ga-precision-rock.html

I shot one, and it spoiled my long range experience forever. hahahaha!

Wow, you are right. It must have been the SPS Tactical. I was hoodwinked.
It looks like the Hogue Stock is pillar bedded but not that strong and a bipod can cause the barrel to touch the stock. Some of the Savages come with accustock, HS Precision, or McMillan stocks. I keep trying to weight the cost vs. the benefit. And then if the price moved up into the higher end stock range, why not just go semi-auto with a free-float tube that can hold 20 rounds. GAAAHHHHH!!!! So many choices.

I keep thinking about reloading too, the problem is the amount of space at my house (not very much) and convincing the wife

You are right, with the cost going up, why not consider a semi.  LOL!  Although thats true, it comes down to what you want.  For long range/precision shooting I do prefer a bolt gun.  They say that the semi will never be as accurate as the bolt gun due to inconsistencies from the gas system.  Ofcourse, your skill level probably has to be pretty high to realize this.   But I need all the help I can get!  

As far as reloading is concerned, true space can be an issue, for me, reloading is a must, have you seen what a box of 20 rnds goes for in 300 WM?  LOL

I have a Savage and (Dumb and Dumber voice) "I like it a lot"  Its heavy but it mostly gets shot from a bench.  Good bang for the buck, Savage has come a long way in the last few years.

What model is that? Nice BTW.

I have that same calculator too