Speaking from experience, I was a newbie in nov, and in april solo'd for the first time.

THE FIRST THING TO DO!... go to a local flying club, and talk with people. They will get you all the hands on info you will need. In many cases you will find one of the guys who past his trainer days will sell you his. many clubs have trainers on site so you can fly a bit to make sure this is what you want to do.

Look at all the trainer type planes, I went with an ulta stick because I hate depending on rubber bands to hold my wing on!...... and it was perfect, I had to tune it down to trainer level, but now that I am learning to do stuff, i can go almost to an itermediate level on the same plane. You cant do that with a trainer.

POINT is talk with your local club. There are a lot of guys who will help you with everything you need.