You can get a ready to fly UMX Vapor for that price. It'll let you teach yourself to fly--no simulator required. You'll need calm weather (5 mph or less), but it's practically indestructible and can be flown in a large living room or your back yard. If you do manage to break anything, Horizon sells all the spare parts. It's on Spectrum's protocol, so when you want to step up to a nice transmitter, it'll work with the new tranny, be it a budget buy like the Orange 6 channel, or something fancier like a DX7.
I should also make mention of the Ember:
http://www.horizonhobby.com/ember-2-rtf-pkz3400
Horizon is selling those at a killer price, completely ready to go. It won't fly in your living room, but it'll do ok in your back yard and can handle more wind. I reckon it still qualifies as practically indestructible despite the wider speed envelope.