I'm a flight sim fanatic and i'm proof that MSFS can be a very useful tool. I finished my PPL with only 25hrs dual instruction. After about 30 hrs total (24 dual) my instructor told me to go and book my skills test and was suprised whe i told him how many hours i had flown. I attribute this to CONSTRUCTIVE use of flight sim software.
FIs in the UK seem to have something against flight sims. In the US there are a few schools that offer a copy of MSFS as part of the groundschool kit. And so does the USAF.