FF
Just speaking from my own experiance. I guess 3 points;
1. Doing your IR in "weather you cannot believe" I presume your talking about the clear skies and sunshine. This is not representitive of the awful gusty IFR weather conditions you get in western Europe most of the time.
2. If you go to a flight school with a modern sim (no plugging but eg Stapleford Flight Centre) its very represenetitive of flying the real thing. Everyone has weaknesses and a sim can be quickly repositioned to practice the same thing over until you get it.
3. When you get hired by an airline and get your first Type, doing some of your IR in the Sim prepares you for the simulator environment. At your first sucessful interview you will be more than likely asked to do a sim check.
Anyway, sounds like you got a good deal and one your comfortable with. Good luck with your IR, its the hardest thing you'll ever have to do!
LAX