What all the fuss is about is ALL THE OTHER STUFF OTHER THAN TWIDDLING THE STICKS...............

A sim will definitely help you learn how to twiddle the sticks.

It won't teach you spit about balancing the airplane,
installing the equipment so the servo's have a chance to work the surfaces correctly,
install the pushrods so they won't disconnect in flight,
rig all the stuff so the surfaces work slowly enough you've got a chance of controlling the airplane,
rig all the stuff so the surfaces work fast enough to fly the airplane,
get the engine to start,
get the engine to start without hurting yourself,
get the engine to run after it starts,
get the engine to run worth spit,
get the engine to run good enough to keep the airplane in the air long enough for you to find out how badly out of trim your model happens to be,
get the engine to run well enough that it doesn't fry itself,
....................
that ought to be enough.

It's not just about twiddling the sticks. Not even close.

Getting help from an experienced modeler covers far more than some people seem to think. It's not BS. Not even close.