I'm going to sound like a broken record here but it bears repeating: Don't try to save money.
Cobbling together a beater is not the way to learn RC flying. You will spend less in the long run by buying good stuff that works like it's supposed to. SPADs can be good if the guy building them knows about airplanes and knows how to set them up. They are often disasters when an inexperienced modeler tries to put one together. Besides, they don't save you that much money on your initial setup. Save your dough, get an ARF trainer or buy a used trainer from someone local, and get an instructor. It will take time but it will be worth it to get you set up right.