RE: thinking about starting w/heli's
A place to start would be to finding a local club or heli pilot to coach you thru your learning steps. Your reference to the closest Walmart doesn't mean anything. There are RCers all over, you just have to find them.
Start here:
[link]http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx[/link]
Continue looking here:
[link]http://pilotlocator.net[/link]
And ultimately, you could search on the members section of RCU, RunRyder, Helifreak, RCGroups, Flying Giants, Rotory, and numerous other forums on the internet.
Rafael