Aspect warriors backed up by a Seer Council and a Wraithlord seems like it might be a good starter force at 1,000 pts. Both the council and Wraithlord should be pretty tough nuts to crack at 1k points, so can make a nice buffer for inexperienced play.

If you really want her interested in the game, I'd say worry less on expense and more on building a solid, interesting list. You don't want the missus thinking you let her win, or have her getting frustrated because the army is too difficult to play. ^_^