Welcome to the obsession. Remember, its only cheap if you keep it in the air and can land it safely. Otherwise it gets expensive or frustrating or both.

Find a local club, or at least someone with experience, to help you get in the air. Your local hobby shop is a good place to start looking. It might seem like a lot of trouble at first, but its well worth it.

As for trainer aircraft, there's a sticky at the top of the forum. Everybody has their own favorite, but most of the trainers out there are pretty evenly matched, and all provide a good platform to learn on. Get something that works with your instructors equipment. Our club VP has the Tower Trainer with an OS 46 AX, and he loves it. My personal favorite trainer is the Hanger 9 Alpha Trainer (get the ARF version) and put a Thunder Tiger Pro 46 on the front with an APC 11x5 prop.

Good Luck!

Brad