You would be much better off joining a club. Buying a cheap simulator and a cheap controller likely means you will buy a cheap foamy park flyer and try to do it all yourself. Good luck with that. You will lose interest very quickly and waste what little money you put into it. That's a shame.
The RealFlight simulator pays for itself over and over again if you are going to fly helicopters. But for standard airplanes the main thing it teaches you is how to fly towards you. You can learn that with a cheap RC car from Walmart. Seriously, So buy a WalMart car and learn to drive it then join a club.