RCKen (RCU moderator and instructor pilot) put together a list of good trainer planes http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm

I agree with the recommendation of a RTF or ARF to get started. If you spend months building your first plane you may become pretty attached to it. You might even be afraid to fly it because it might crash. You probably will not be attached to a RTF or ARF. If it breaks you lose money but not a huge time investment. As you're learning to fly you will decide if you want to stick with RC or move to something else. If you stick with it, you might want to build a trainer or a "second Plane" from a kit. My first build was a Great Planes trainer and I flew it for a long time. Even though I had crashed ARF trainers, it hurt my feelings when I crashed the plane I built. I fixed and crashed it several times before I finally killed it.