Congrats on the about to be new house. I trust you had a good home inspection for this "fixer-upper" However, home inspectors don't always find everything.
Good plan to price stuff out ahead of time. Make sure all the hidden stuff is sound before you start on the stuff you can see. Electric wiring, plumbing, etc. Do you need/want to run wires for cable TV and/or computer? Then do walls/ ceilings, then floors.
Places like Lumber Liquidators are good if they have something you like at a good price. The harder part, as you already noted, is finding a contractor who will install the floor you got from LL , do a good job and not kill you on price. A sound subfloor and good quality installation are keys to having a hardwood floor that will last. Check the internet and (gasp) the yellow pages phone book for hardwood floor installers in your area. Find one who is willing to work with you on the floor choice you make and then just put it in. $2.00 SF for installation is not a terrible price. You may be able to find someone who will have some hardwood for about that price installed - but with a very limited selection of wood type, finish etc. My location based internet gives me at least a start on local installers. Yours should too.
There are multiple different types of hardwood floor materials and finishes. True solid wood boards, planed and milled and finished or unfinished. These need to be nailed or glued down. Not usually recommended for slab on grade installation. Unfinished will need to be sanded, stained and protected after installation. Engineered wood floors use small pieces of wood with a plastic binder, that are then made into floor strips or blocks. The surface can be anything from a finished wood veneer to a plastic laminate that looks like wood. This is what the click together floating floors are, as well as thicker boards. Not all types will do well in all parts of your house.
Lowes has a pretty good basic description of all this here:
http://www.lowes.com/projects/build-and-remodel/hardwood-flooring-buying-guide/article
2400 SF of carpet is a lot of tearing out, its a hard, but not complex job. Friends, beer, box cutters, someplace to dump the old stuff.
Good luck with the projects!