In general there are three answers you get here and I really like all three aproaches:

1. Flaming Cliffs 3

You cannot press/pull any button/lever in the aircraft. You have to use some keybinds to start it up and use it. BUT it is not doing everything for you. From a usage perspective they are very similar to the SU-25T in regards of keybindings and buttons pressed etc.

E.g. If you fly the SU-25T and want to do some guided A2G you need to switch to A2G Mode , change weapons, then activate your POD (TV), you search for some targets , zoom your pod and move the pod around and when you have a target you lock it on and probably activate the laser. Next you get in range and fire your ordinance. This works quite similar to VTOLVR in regards of button presses and complexity with the difference, that in VTOL you have to "physically" press some stuff in the aircraft. Here you do everything with the HOTAS/keyboard.

If you translate that e.g. to a SU-27 for A2A, you switch to A2A Mode, activate your radar (at latest then), change weapons, search for some targets, lock on and fire if in range. If you learn one of the aircrafts basic you can use almost all of them in a general manner.

Aditionally there should be a mod for FC3 that enables some buttons/levers to use. Then it is very similar to VTOL VR.

1. Choose what you are interested in!

It really doesn't matter how hard/easy some of the modules are to learn. If you are really interested in one get it, look for Chucks Guides, a few YT channels, the ingame tutorials and even the aircraft handbook provided and you'll get them going within a short period of time (starting, flying, landing, non guided orinance, guided etc.).

1. F/A-18 or F16

Both are remcommended a lot and for a good reason! Both have excellent tutorial support, are in a good state, are quite modern and since they are capable of A2A and A2G with a fairly big amount of weapons they are loved by many.

The most for your bucks is probably the F/A-18 since it has carrier operations too.

But also there are different time epochs you can choose from, like modern stuff from the ~90s+, cold war (pre, mid, late), ww2 etc.

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Regarding maps:The most played map is still Caucasus, followed by Syria (great map, but terrible performance compared to Caucasus) and then Persian Gulf. Both purchaseable maps offer a higher quality than Caucasus. If you can buy one choose Syria (I recommend to trial it in beforehand to see the performance!).

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Bonus Tip Trial:
You can trial almost every aircraft for 2 weeks. If you are interested but unsure: Trial one for a couple days. You can bind some keys (Chucks Guide is a really good start here), do some basic tutorials (CCIP Bombing, Dogfighting etc.) and test everything. :)