Bbrown, I just finished going through what you are starting now. IMO I think you have chosen a great place to ask this question. Ken and all the guys here are going to give you some great advice, you have to make the decision whether or not to follow it.

First and foremost you will be reccomended to find a club in your area and check out R/C flying first hand if you haven't alreday done so. This will prove to be a great first step, and may I also reccomend calling or E-mailing the training coordinator at that facility so you can schedule a day to check it out when they are there and can explain what you are seeing. You can also ask the training coordinator if they have a dedicated club aircraft to train you with or if you will need your own.

Second off it will be reccomended that you join the AMA, and this will probably be a requirement of the club you choose before you start your training. I would personally reccomend the 3 month trial membership that way you can train a little and if you don't like it
(which I can't see happening but you never know) you don't waste a whole year membership

Now it will be the time for the all important question, which plane for me? Well by this time you may have already bought a plane and have it ready to fly, I would look very closely at RCkens list all the trainers have one thing in common, and that is they are purpose built to train a new pilot, They are gentle flyers and when powered right are slow enough to give you time to react before the situation gets out of control. Another reason for an instructor is to teach you how to fly a plane safely and how to control the plane if a sticky situation does arise. I personally didn't like the looks of the basic training planes but after flying both of mine I can fully understand why they are made. Both my Sig Senior and PT-40 fly very well with minimal input and slow enough for me to feel comfortable flying them, what I mean is that I feel in control of the plane, not like I am fighting with it to get it to do what I want. The Tower Hobbies trainer looks very nice I have seen it fly and looked closely at it. while it may have the look of a 2x4 with wings as I have heard it referred to,in ready to fly trim it is as just as good of a plane as many higher dollar models. it comes with good equipment that you can use on you second or third plane if you so choose to. I have personally found that the looks of the trainer are not very important
as long as it trains you to fly.

Next off you will need some support equipment
1. Fuel
2. Some way to get fuel from the bottle to the tank. A hand pump or squeeze jug works great
3. A glow plug igniter. There are many on the market I reccomend an inexpensive rechargable one
4. a starting device. Chicken stick or electric starter, your budget dictates this
5. Some hand tools. Screw drivers, pliers, allen wrenches, and an adjustable wrench for tightening the prop, a glow plug wrench is
also nice to have.
6. A spare prop and glow plug.

Then you can have a great time. I was into R/C car racing for 20+ years and I haven't had as much fun at the track as I have had at the flying field in a long time.

If I forgot anything some one else will add it.

So good luck and I hope evrything goes as great for you as it did for me.