.
I started on a FireBirdII from HobbyZone ($139 Canadian + tax). I had no instructor, flew at the local double ball diamond, eventually made some very basic mods on my own and only had to replace a wing and a tail ($30 canadian) during my learning curve. now I can I can fly in 10 mph winds, do chandels and a sort of loop/roll thingie (only so much a V-tail 2 channel plane will do). It will even handle 15mph+ with the Speedwing and 5cell battery upgrades.
This plane has hit two trees, cartwheeled on landing. nose dived into the ground from under 15' and taken tall prarie grass abuse on the leading edge during regular landings and it still flies ok after only packing tape repairs. Oh and my three batteries (4cell 600 MaH) keep me in the field for 90 minutes and if I had a quick charger I could be charging battery 1 while flying on 2 and 3.
Poo-Pooh the electric RTF's if you must but they have a market and practically guarantee a successful first flight.