I'm going to second the Dolphin; it was my second plane. It totally rips if you want it to, slows down nicely. I flew it in a pattern meet and was able to perform all the basic aerobatic maneuvers with it.

I've got no experience with the Cherokee but have flown the Hangar 9 Value series cherokee (similar) and it's also a pretty easy but fun plane to fly. I would fly it on a box for the first few flights though; doesn't float quite like a Dolphin or something similar.