I live in Phoenix, AZ. My husband and I are currently renting a one bedroom apartment for 900/month. We are looking to purchase a home for around 150-175k as well. However, we plan to live there for at least 5 years. Depending on how much space you need, you might not have to pay $1400/month for a rental. But that may also change depending on where you want to live in Phoenix, there are definitely more desirable areas with higher rents.
The market for homes in Phoenix is really hot right now, we've put 3 offers in over the last 3 months and 2 times they had multiple offers, and once they wouldn't accept my FHA financing, even though it said FHA on the listing. You might consider short term housing, if you want to purchase a home, it might take longer than you think to find and close. I have heard that the inventory of homes under 200k is low, which is why we keep getting these bidding wars. Best of luck to you.