Definitely go the sim route, spent a month with phoenix until I could fly and land any plane in the sim, then put together a twinstar II and successfully solo'd it at a mates farm twice, then 2/3 at another property with a much tighter field (surrounded by large trees) - I ran out of strip on landing first attempt (hit a tree just before touching down), supa glued the elevator back on, configured spoilerons, and then had much less trouble getting her down.

Before I give you too much confidence, I did a private pilot license 20 years ago, and still remember flying and the theory as if it was yesterday. I'm also pretty patient and technically inclined when it comes to any kind of project. Spent lots of time trawling the net for info on everything from build tips to get the CG right, to what is expo. I was also lucky not to crash a couple times during those flights.

So I'd definitely back up the notion that sim time reduces the training required to solo. It's also cheaper to get a sim to test the waters, so to speak, prior to diving in.