Originally Posted by
Quarryman
Don't go and blow thousands on a level D sim. A frasca sim or even a desktop "sim" is fine.
That is very good advice about the sim. A CH yoke, Microsoft Flight Simulator 10, and a Carenado airplane are all you need to practice.
If you want more realism than that, then find an fbo with a good simulator and offer to CFI for them and get free sim time.