do you only want to fly electric? I am a fan of the cheap gws foamies with a good brushless. the slope glider versions are only $30 and can take a pounding. i would go w/ the estarter or slowstick. slowstick is very easy to fly (i learnt how to fly by myself with the ss) the estarter is a little harder but with 40+ hours in a sim you should be fine. the apprentice does not look bad if you are into rtf but i have never seen/delt with one. also the quality of the radio, esc, ect might or might not be as good as jr or futaba.
if you want a nitro plane the planes at spadflyer.com can take quite a few very hard landings and are about $50 with shipping and handleing.