Setup, like Tippy says, is critical for new pilots. Many RTF helicopters are not setup right and as such are very difficult for new pilots to operate. Run a search on this topic and be sure to check out the Walkera forum here at RCU. My Blade CP was much easier to fly once I got the setup dialed in and I would have, most likely, destroyed it had I not worked on correcting this. Skilled pilots, on the other hand, can often overcome setup errors due to their experience.
Rumor has it that the Axe CP (~$200, brushed) is pretty good for an out of the box RTF heli, so look in to this if worse comes to worse. This is just my .02 worth.

Good luck and good flying!

P.S. "RTF" means "Ready To Fix" for most models when it comes to setup.