I just finished going through all this analysis and decided on buying the NextStar. Decided to join a club as suggested and was warmly welcomed and assigned a flight instructor the first night. After discussing my decision with several flight instructors at the club they recommended the following.
1) NextStar plane is fine, similar in quality to other ARF's.
2) The AFS is useless, it fights the student and ends up being detuned to being almost useless after the first solo.
3) A four channel radio is not desirable. To avoid duplication of equipment a student should purchase a six channel radio and add "flight packs" to additional planes as the fleet grows.
4) Although the simulator is useful for some folks they believed the average student would be fine without one. This is especially true for students such as myself who have been flying 3 channle park flyers for several months.

They recommended I buy the NextStar or LT-40 ARF. Not the complete NextStar system, just the plane.
Purchase a good 6 channel JR radio, computer controlled not critical but why not since they cost just a few bucks more.
Purchase a good BB 46 motor or find one used.

They believe the ARF gives the student more opportunity to put some build time in and understand the complete picture of how the plane works. This knowledge will also come in handy when replacing fuselages and wings as your training progresses and you have your first couple of mishaps.

I purchased the LT-40 ARF a JR 6 channel computer system and a OS 46. Came in at $15 more than the complete NexStar system. I'm putting the parts and pieces together right now. I guess the joining the club and listening to the instructor was the two basic tips I gleamed out of all these threads here for beginners like me.