I would urge you to consider saving some money by getting stick and rudder time in a glider and then adding to that in a 172 later. You might easily save 10 Hrs of your SEL time to PPL. Like you, I was too big for a smaller plane and ended up taking my PPL in a 172. Many years later, powered flying has become too expensive for me but I get just as much pleasure from soaring. While I miss my syndicate share, I'm finding the challenge of soaring a good replacement for my addiction.
my 2c