I would ask, what is your budget and or comfort level with people and equipment. If money is not an issue, then buy new, but if you have a budget, then talk to clubs, ask around, look on craigs list, I have seen many, many good used airplanes and deals for quit a bit cheaper. Every February our club has an auction and I have seen many many planes with engines sell for less then $100. I would also highly recommend buying a flight sim, I use Phoenix and it works very good and would save you some time and money in the long run.

Jon