you must state your purpose.
what games you will be playing.
can go a lot lower than $1500 depending on your needs.
I think if he is looking at the GTX970, he is looking at the AAA titles already
And 1.5k is around the price I would consider a system with a GTX970
i5-4460 + MSI H81M-E35 @308
Strontium 2x8GB DDR3-1600 @148
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB @175
WD Blue 1TB @72
Samsung DVD Drive @21
Zotac GTX970 @475
Seasonic M12-II 620W @115
Fractal Core 1500 @89
Total 1403
Still got room to squeeze in OS if TS needs it