slopilot,
go check out troybuiltmodels.com

Gene has a pretty good plane for under $40 that will work with a regular speed 400 brushed motor.

You can at least fly that around until you make the move to brushless.

IMO though, you really should just start out with a brushless motor since the cheaper brushed motor speed controls will not work with brushless motors, and you'd have to buy a brushless speed control.

Gene's site also has a lot of good info, check it out.