Surviving while learning
After I went through the trainer stage, I had a few pattern-ish planes, but they could be flown on the tame side at low throttle, and were a blast to fly fast and aerobatically later. (Great Planes "Ultra Sport .40, for example) They have "go where you point" qualities, but won't destroy your budget like a fast, expensive "pro" pattern plane.
The key to avoiding trouble with a lot of these planes is simply to throttle back, until you're used to the new qualities. The Goldberg "Tiger" series are a good choice, too.