I wish you were closer to me, I'd be glad to teach you. The majority of my students are middle aged to retired. But I think your commute would be a bit far. All I can say is keep looking. The new Apprentice 15e with flight stabilizer is a good idea. I generally try to discourage people learning on their own, but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. I ran into the a similar scenario as you when starting and taught myself to fly, it was expensive and took a long time. Towards the end though, I meet good instructor that buddy boxed me a couple of times to correct a few bad habits and I was off and running. You might have to drive a ways.
Edwin