Perhaps my background will help. I took about 17 years off. When I started again, I used a fairly aerobatic, mid wing plane that I still had. It took 3 sessions at the field to get signed off. The only reason it took that long is I was having problems with the engine and it kept dead sticking. The first two times at the field we only got in a couple flights. The third time, with the third instructor, he told me to not play around in the sky, just get in the requirements so he could sign me off. We did all this without a buddy box and the instructors didn't need to "save" the plane during any of the flights.

So, if you can still visualize flying in your head, one of the commonly recommended second planes and an instructor with a buddy box should get you flying again in short order.