yetti,

I was in the same position as you, absolutely no clubs in my area and the nearest other town was 350 mile away. I practiced taxiing up and down the runway at near takeoff speed to learn to steer the plane and then eventually decided to just take off. I flew nice and slow and eventually crashed although it was minor.
My advice to you would be to definitely build a SPAD. You will have more confidence to fly it and therefore learn quicker. Fly it to its death and then give your trainer a go.
Buy the simulator if you have the money but like most people no doubt you've already spent all your savings on the plane and its equipment. I personally would rather spend any extra money on building a spad and perhaps buying a motor and some servos for it. (Alternatively use the motor and servos you already have)

Regards,

Troy.