Pole Hill,
with those specs, you might want to try an earlier version of X-Plane. I don't know much about it below version 6 (and 8 is current), but with the sim having been around so long, there'll be a version that suits your hardware perfectly.
And it might even be free if you know where to look. PC-based training doesn't come much cheaper than that!
toosleepy, a question - where's this rumour about FS2006 being released this year from, and it featuring a G1000 panel? I've been looking for that information about the next version, but can't find it.