Hi Michael - I used to be exactly the same with regards to flight sim (never off the damn thing!) but as soon as I got about 2 or 3 hours training in, I started to realise it's weaknesses - it doesn't really portray the real world of flying. Ok, the principles are there (move the stick left, aircraft rolls left) but you just cannot compare it, and for this reason alone I found that I have not even been on flight sim for about a year now.
However, when I was learning to use VOR it was very useful, as you will see later on in the course.
Best of luck,
Maz
P.s - IR = Instrument rating and CPL = commercial pilot's license! I know how horrible the abbreviations are when you start out!