A question from a sim noob

[Ant26587]

Hi there, been keeping my eye on this game for a good few months now (it has sleeper hit written all over it) and getting into Flight Sims has always been something I've wanted to get around to, but never got around to building myself a decent pc.

So I'm very glad this is coming out for the ol'360, now the arcade option doesn't really appeal to me, so I'm looking for some advice as to how best prepare myself for going into the sim style.

Should I get a joystick? Is there any (affordable) flight sticks you would recommend that are compatible with the game?

Do you guys think the learning curve might be too steep to go straight into sim? Or is it a case of practice makes perfect?

Cheers.