Russian tortoises are really, REALLY nice little torts. I, too, wanted an Egyptian for the sheer tiny cuteness of them, but not enough to fork over that kind of money. I had a Russian Tort named Higgins as a classroom pet many years back; he was so incredibly personable for a reptile, and used to follow one of my aides around his hab. He was an easy keeper - anyone with herp experience like you and your wife will find them no problem to keep. He lived in a 3x8' tortoise table at school, in an outdoor paddock at home during the summer, and in a storage bin on weekends and vacations during the cold months. When dandelions came in season, my entire class would bring in ziplock bags full for him to munch on. I can't think of a single negative thing to say about the species. A great RT site is
www.russiantortoise.net but its photo section doesn't seem to be working, which is a shame, because they had many drool-worthy tort tables to look at there.
Unfortunately for me, my district decided that nobody who didn't teach science could have classroom pets (I taught reading and writing only at that time), and because the living area of our home couldn't accommodate Higgins's tortoise table, we returned him to his breeder, who runs Long Island Turtle Rescue. I still miss his tortoise-y presence in my classroom, though my new room definitely couldn't fit the 3x8' table... ah, downsizing.
Hope your wife finds a tort she loves!