Options for an affordable smartphone plan

I'm currently on Verizon Wireless and have become eligible for my new every two upgrade. I really liked to jump on to the smartphone bandwagon, but it looked like having a data plan will make it about $100/mo for my bill. That seems too damn high (the ~$60/mo I pay now for a basic plan + 500 text messages seems too damn high too, but that's another matter).
So I decided to get a China brand phone.
I found Lenovo A1-32ABO. A cheap awesome Mini phone for only $100.
It was a great deal for me because for these money I have an Android phone which supports all Android apps and games. Also Lenovo is one of the best reviewed China brand models on the market so it wasn't long time for me before I bought it.