Building a plane from a kit is yet another option. You will learn quite a bit about your plane if you go this route. It will also take you a lot longer to build from a kit, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing! I've learned a lot from just the building process. It's also much cheaper.

The plane I'm building is the Kadet Senior by SIG. It's been around for a long time and is a common beginner's plane. Tower hobbies sells it here: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXFF89&P=ML

Here's a thread on this website about building a SIG LT-40, a plane similar to the Senior:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3260903/tm.htm
I like this thread because it shows how the guy built the plane step-by-step with pictures and detailed descriptions.

Good luck whatever you choose!
Mike