http://www.henryrepeating.com/rifle-45-70.cfm"
Thanks for that link, I wasn't aware Henry was making one now. Henry has good timing, as the reputation of the Marlins has really suffered since Remington became the owner and shut down the original factory. I may have to pick one up one of these days...
The ghost ring sight on the Henry looks nice, though with my aging eyes I'd definitely mount a low-power scope. Minox has a nice 1.5-8x that seems like a sweet spot to me.
The 45-70 is a nice and very versatile round, as well as having an interesting history. You can shoot it very cheaply if you handload and cast your own lead bullets. You can load those down a bit to approximate muzzleloader velocities (1300-1600 FPS) for deer hunting as long as ranges are typically short. You can also practice a lot with cheap ammo.
Search on MidwayUSA.com to get an idea of the range of bullet molds available. There are plenty of .458 jacketed bullets to try as well. This one is what I intend to try once I get around to it...
For factory ammo, the LeverRevolution ammo mentioned above isn't really all that expensive, it's about $32 a box and generally very accurate.