Well, I agree with the posters here and with you to find a club ofcourse learning by yourself is gonna be little expensive as well as dangerous. I'm not in USA, but I know in order to join a club you need to be also member of AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics). Plus Simulators are the best softwares on your computer to teach you how the plane reacts over a small push of your finger on gimbals/stick. Also there is a website where you can download a free flight simulator which is FMS and website is
http://www.rc-sim.de , here you can download FMS 2.85V for free also the planes, and once it's installed you have to caliberate the controls of your radio, like throttle, rudder, aileron and elevator settings. I hope you would find it good in the first place to fly planes on it. Wish you good luck and Welcome to the Addicition ERK419

Mody