I will certainly agree with da Rock that Real Flight G4 is a big improvement over G3.5. I reinstalled the G4 demo and flew the Nexstar for a bit. It's much more realistically modelled with regard to flight physics than the older G3/G3.5 version. I wouldn't recommend spending $100 or more on G3/G3.5 because it's on close-out; if you're going to dish out the money then G4/4.5 is a much wiser investment.

Spending $59.98 on Clearview plus the ESky USB controller is a much better investment than G3/G3.5. I have tried the ESky USB controller ($19.99 from Raidentech) with FMS and with Clear View and I think it's a terrific value. Once calibrated both in the Windows control panel and then again within the simulator itself, flying the ESky controller was just as comfortable and realistic as flying with my Real Flight Interlink controller.