This is from an experienced plane pilot and a newbie heli pilot. My advice is to get a good simulator first, or at least try one at the lhs. You're on a limited budget and will run out of money fast with any heli because of repairs. You will get a better idea of whether you want a plane or heli by flying the sim for a while. I love my planes and it was pretty easy to go from beginner to doing lots of cool stuff with the planes. Learning the helis takes a LOT more patience and time but I can already tell it's going to be just as much or more fun than the planes when I get good at it.

The newest version of the Realflight sim has some nice heli training features.

Wally

from my beginners perspective:

Blade CP Pro.... #@%$^&^%#@
MX400 Pro.... That's better!
Century Hawk Pro....Yeah, that's what I'm talkin bout.