Like the majority, I also agree that a home SIM is not necessary for basic skills. However, it will aid greatly when practicing for your instrument rating. In order to get a SIM to actually be a decent training aid for other situations, it can take a quite a bit of money. Plus, I've witnessed many people getting addicted to their at-home SIMs and spending thousands of dollars.

I recommend just chair flying, a cheap SIM setup for instruments, and plenty of aviation tutorial videos.