I like Clear View simply because it looks decent (graphics) and it does the job for 40 bucks. 

I use a GWS SIM cable for my DX7...works great!  So for less than 60 bucks you can have a SIM that will teach you the basics.

I dont find it realistic for practicing 3D flight...but I dont really have anything else to compare it to....so I dont know if other more expensive SIMS are better at replicating the heli for 3D stuff.

IF you are brand new and want a SIM to train you to hover and fly circuits...Clear View will do the job and save you some coin to put towards your heli and or radio equipment.

Once you actually are flying around in circuits and want to progress into 3D...you could always upgrade to a better SIM with physics suited for that.

Keep in mind that flying on the SIM isnt exactly like flying a real heli simply from a perspective standpoint.  A SIM can take you a long way to learning how to hover/fly...but it wont take you all the way.  The only way you can do that is to actually fly a heli.

A great tool that has taken me much further than any SIM ever could was when I bought a Blade mCPX.  That little heli is basically a real life SIM.  Ive had tons of flights on mine and with minimul crash damages when crashing it...and trust me I have crashed it plenty.  I finally broke the swash on mine yesterday, matter of fact when doing inverted circuits and I got to low and dorked it in.

Dont let my high recommendation for the mCPX forgo a SIM altogether...I had plenty of SIM time plus hovering a 450 and 500 size heli before I bought the mCPX.  Its just I wasnt progressing toward actual flight circuits on the larger helis because they intimidated me.  Once I got the mCPX and started trying to fly it around did everything make much more sense to me and it just "clicked".

goodluck!