A nice electric, yeah. But not a nice acoustic. He's right that (give or take a few hundred) $2k is about the threshold for a playable acoustic that has good action and isn't going to make you cry. $400 doesn't buy much acoustic guitar at all these days.
Spend $400 and you can get a really nice guitar. Totally sufficient for anything you need as a beginner.
Take the other $1600 and book yourself lessons for the next 18 months. That qualifies as the same "cost commitment", but actually adds value.