To answer your question. I would look for a high wing plane with a flat bottom airfoil. The wing should also have several degrees of dihedrahl. Dihedrahl is the amount each wing tip is above the center of the wing. When viewed from the front or rear, it will look like a very shallow "V". The more dihedrahl (within reason of course), the more stable and forgiving (self righting) the plane will be. More dihedrahl will reduce the aerobatic ability of the plane. Since you are just starting out, the aerobatic abilities of the plane should not concern you.

I tend to agree with 5_spot about going with glow to begin with. The advantages to glow are the size (much easier to see AND see what the plane is doing). Because a glow trainer is a lot heavier than an electric trainer, it will handle wind better. Many electric trainers, especially in a park flyer size, have difficulty with wind 5 mph and higher. The down side to glow is they require a larger area to fly in, they are faster than electric, the noise level, and cleaning the plane afterwards (no biggie, 5 minutes with some Windex and paper towels).

Glow planes are USUALLY made of balsa and lite plywood. They are not any harder to fly than electrics, and when (not if) you crash, IMHO, are easier to repair than plastic or foam planes with minimal weight gain. Because they have more power than electric (again, especially in trainers) they are able to handle the increased weight of repairs much better.

You would most likely need to join a club and the AMA in order to fly at a club field. The club will provide instructors AT NO CHARGE. IMHO, the AMA is well worth it because of the insurance it provides in case the plane injures someone or damages property (crashes into a car, etc). The AMA also provide a monthly magazine that is pretty decent in the membership fee.

I am not saying you can not learn to fly on your own. Many people have done it. What I will tell you is this: Teaching yourself to fly has a steep learning curve and can be (and usually is) quite frustrating (not to mention expensive). The USUAL first flight of someone teaching themself to fly is UNDER 30 SECONDS and frequently results in major damage to the plane and/or equipment on the plane.

As I said earlier, clubs provide instructors AT NO CHARGE. Many clubs also teach flying on electrics. I would suggest going out to a club field and talking to some of the people out there. If nothing else, the people you talk to can most likely provide some suggestions on specific brands/models and approximate prices of what you are looking for.

One other thing you want to check on, and not every club offers this. SOME AMA clubs have a program where the club provides the plane, equipment, instructor, etc. for 30 days AT NO COST TO YOU. The program was set up to allow people to try RC flying before spending any money. YOU DO NEED TO CHECK WITH THE CLUB TO SEE IF THEY OFFER THIS PROGRAM.

Hope this has been of some help to you.