I have a few suggestions. I think the sim idea is a god idea, you can also get the Phoenix sim for less money then Real Flight, and I know that Tom's Hobby Warehouse in Richfield has it. I know that we are not supper close to you, but we do have a good group of guys that would be happy to help you, we are in Jordan
www.tcrconline.com. I would also suggest that you save money and come to our annual auction in February, you can often get a second plane for a very fair price. If you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.
Jon