Horace,

I learned to fly on a Multiplex EasyStar. It is a three channel plane (rudder, elevator, throttle)
and it is extremely durable. I probably used upwards of a two ounce bottle of CA on the plane for repairs and it still flies great. I have snapped the fuse in two pieces on several occasions and both wing tips have been glued back on. This has much less to do with the flying qualities of the plane than with the pilot, who had to do things the hard way and suffered the consequences.
This can be a docile plane with the factory Speed 400 motor and a 7.2 or 8.4 volt nicad or nimh battery pack or a more aggressive plane with a little bit of hop-up work (the owner of my lhs built one with a Hacker brushless motor and used two lipo packs in parallel....he claims that is will climb out at a high angle of attack and also claims that he flew for roughly 45 minutes before landing....he says the only reason he landed is 'cause he got tired). Anyway, Tower Hobbies and Hobby-Lobby both carry this plane in kit form as well as a complete package and you should be able to get airborne under or right around your $200 limit. There may very well be better planes out there than the EasyStar, I don't know. I can only report on what I have experience with. Others may have something better in mind. Just something to think about.

Steve