It is probably a [link|http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=187003310|risky choice] as Borland's tools are in a state of flux now, but you can get Kylix3 for Linux for as little as $249 for a new Professional license. Delphi starts at $1090 for a new license.

It sounds like you need something that you can hack on quickly. That probably means something GPL/Open Source (you don't want to wait on Borland or MS or ... to fix your problems).

If I were in your situation, I'd probably go with the Python solution. I would avoid MS unless they were the only ones with a working toolset that met your requirements.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Scott.