There's no substitute for experienced help. Your plan is good to stay with the sim until you can get an instructor. It's worth the $60 just to have an experienced pilot look over your plane before you fly to spot any potential problems. That's one crash averted already. Then there's instruction, probably worth 3 or 4 crashes, at least one of which would be a total. Then there's being networked with other guys to ask questions to in order to keep from making bad purchases- worth $100's again in the long haul.

Have you called or emailed any of the instructors personally? Maybe they can meet with you at a time that fits.