I took this EXACT approach, with a few more safety precautions:

On step 9, I buddy boxed with my club instructor on my first flight. As it turned out, I didn't really need him, other than to help me get my Apprentice S trimmed. After the first flight, my instructor turned me loose and I soloed the next flight. I prefer to fly when other club members are around though. They all give me little bits and pieces of invaluable knowledge in flying technique, plane setup, and plane maintenance.

I just got into the hobby in June. My first purchase was a r/c flight sim. I actually spent almost 50 hours doing almost nothing but takeoffs, landings, and pattern flying on a trainer in the flight sim before I took my first flight. In the flight sim, I tried to setup a custom field that was as close to our club airfield as possible. I flew with variable amounts of wind from various directions. After my experience, I think I made believers out of several folks at the field in the value of flight sim training and the quality of the Apprentice S 15e as a trainer.