RCKen has a great sticky in the Beginners Forum which gives lists of great primary trainers and first sport airplanes as kits or ARFs, as bubbagates mentioned.

As far as trainers go, I've flown the Nexstar, Avistar, Superstar, and Tower Trainer. I bought an Avistar before I flew the others and am still convinced I made the right choice. Doing it over, I would purchase a six channel computer radio and an O.S. 40LA with the Avistar. I would purchase the cheaper 40LA because I was hard on my engine while learning to set everything properly and ran it lean a few times.