xe2, I believe that you will find the NexStar first to be a great choice. For all the things you stated it will work well for you. That is pretty much exactly what I did. Since I had the luxury of 2 different Trainers, I started with the most docile of the 2. After getting quite comfortable with the NexStar then then Tower became much easier for me to handle. In the beginning though I had the Tower first & it seemed really fast & touchy to me, I really wasn't doing very well. Then I picked up the NexStar & started over. After developing a softer touch at the controls with the NexStar I began to have a great time with the Tower & still do!! It is my warm up plane. I fly a hot-lap or two with it everytime I go flying as a warm up before I fly my good planes.