I used the Futaba that came with the trainer for a few months, save up a bit and get a skektrum radio. I picked up my DX6i w/ dual band rx, new on ebay for 175.

I'm new to flying too, worked on the sim from aug of 2010 and took my first 2 flights in Jan. I have flown a total of 8 times for real, 1 landing, a few low pass runs. The instructor is ready to let me do takeoffs and a few more landings, looks like they will solo me soon. I probally would have done takeoffs this last Sunday but the wind speed for the day was around 10 to 15mph. I did good for my first windy day. No crashes thus far.