Hey J- Dub,

The sim is the way to go!! I'm new to the hobby as well and after talking to the guys at our field I went and bought GP Real Flight G2 Lite. You should be able to get it at your LHS, The cost of the sim is about 125.00 bucks or so. It comes with the software and the controller you plug into the USB port of your Computer.

I flew the Sim for a few weeks combined with a little ground school at the club ( Taxi, Stick Movement) and one of the guys let me fly His Hanger 9 Alfa ( Buddy Box of course) And I was amazed with how well I was able to Fly, I have since purchased my own Alfa RTF from Hanger 9 and haven't looked back. I soloed Last week After about 1 1/2 months, and I still hit that simulator any day The weather is bad or when I just want to fart around with touch & go's