Welcome to the world of Rc planes w7wv! You're starting out in the right place. I just found rcuniverse recently. I live in the back woods and couldn't find a lot of help when I started flying. Been flying about 2 years, about 8 months ago I started a ministry at my church teaching kids to fly. Wish I had known about this place when I started, lots of information and help here!!! Starting with the similator is definitely the smart way! I will leave you with my two cents on choosing a first plane,

If you do well on the simulator and you have friends that fly gas/nitro, you might consider starting with a gas trainer and buddy box system. This is what I have started doing with the kids! If you go this route, I reccomend the Hobbico Avistar for reasons I'll share later if you want to know!

If you go electric, I reccomend the Hobbyzone Super Cub. This is what I started teaching the kids with. We now have six and they are all still flying!! (Kids have crashed some of them a lot, but they are cheap and easy to repair) If you decide to go this route, I have lots of tips! Good luck in your new pursuit, let us know how it goes!