I'm looking to set up a VPS (virtual private server) in the United States for a new website I'm working on. Does anyone have any recommendations for reliable and affordable VPS hosting providers that have servers located in the US?

My main criteria are:

Located in the USA
Reliable uptime/performance
Reasonable pricing (below $50/month would be ideal)
Allows root access
At least 2GB of RAM (4GB preferred)
At least 40GB of storage
Support for Linux (preferably Ubuntu)
Some specific features I'm looking for:

Easy control panel/dashboard
Quick provisioning of new VPS instances
DDOS protection
Regular backups
I've used VPSs from companies like Vultr and DigitalOcean in the past but wanted to see if there are any other good options I should consider. My site won't have a ton of traffic to start, but I want to make sure the hosting can scale well in case the site grows.

Any suggestions for good quality but affordable VPS hosting in the US would be greatly appreciated!