Where are you planning to fly it? If you're just starting out, your best bet is to join a club and have someone help you out. A friendly experienced pilot and an $8 buddy-box cord will save your plane, give you much more time in the air, and you'll be able to learn much faster than trying it on your own.

Take it from me, I know. I had many solo flights after doing the buddy box thing for about 3-5 flights. But that was over six years ago. I recently got back into the hobby and got an Avistar Select. I was anxious to fly, thought I could just pick up where I left off and took it out on my own. Bad idea. I got it up in the air, made one shaky circuit, then on the second time round got confused on a right turn coming toward me, added more right instead of left to level out, lost altitude, saved it from the ground only to smack a tree at full throttle.

Scratch one Avistar and my ego. With my second Avistar, I've had two successful flights with the help of an instructor. His presence gave me much peace of mind and I did fine. Didn't land it myself yet, but I intend to do that this weekend and reinstate my solo status. I could probably do it myself now that I've shed a bit of rust. We'll see if an instructor is available next time I'm at the field.

Oh, and RealFlight G2 Simulator from Great Planes is awesome for getting the basics down. I recommend it, but it's no substitute for the real thing.

Good luck!