I think Bose Quitecomfort 3 is the best budget noise canceling headphone. It is quite amazing because it is number one in Noise canceling and comfort. In fact Bose Engineers have created smaller in size on the ear handset which is very efficient in noise cancellation. The leather that has been used in making it is really soft and other build quality is very high. The only drawback of it is that in-air battery charge is not possible. However, if the battery is charged then it can last for 20 hours...The price of this model is $349!
When someone asks for "budget" then its obvious that they are asking for the best ones from all the ones which would be considered cheap - not the best use of their money - of all the headphones in the normal consumer range of noise cancelling headphones, BOSE are the most expensive of the easily available headphones.