Treozen, Good to hear you are you are having fun. I too am a big fan of simulators as a learning tool for beginners, especially for helicopters. The actual flying of a real model is slightly different from flying on a sim, but the sim is certainly a valuable learning aid. I personally don't have a simulator, but then I've been flying from almost the stone age.
Sounds like you also understand that a park flyer size model might be better suited for your proposed flying field. You might look into the foam core board airplanes from Flight Test, as more of a disposable platform to learn on. Park flyers do have their wind limitations, but if you will check out your local model club, you might find that they fly indoor somewhere, where you might only have an HVAC system to contend with. I'll be flying indoor tomorrow with my 13 year old granddaughter who learned to fly indoors before flying outdoors.