you should never have a heat source without a stat on it - you can kill a baby beardie quite easily if it is over-heating
a dimmer stat is by far the best for a basking bulb heat source
there are two main dimmer stats available - one is habistat, I think the other is called something like microclimate
I paid £30 for mine but I have no idea what it would cost in the US - probably cheaper than here
good reptile shops will stock them and you can definitely find them on ebay