rgsaero, I couldn't disagree more about the difference between the old PA28-180 and the later PA28-161. I transitioned from one to the other at about 80hrs total time with no problems at all. Yes, you need to be aware of the sink rate, especially with full flap. But there's nothing especially hard about it. And the C172 has some failings, too, in my experience - notably a tendency to self-oscillate at low speed (like a falling parachute) - maybe that was me, but that was how it felt - and a definite tendency to enter an incipient spin in a power-on stall - much more so than the PA28-180, which was my regular mount for three years (I now fly a PA28-181 but it still has the same wing).
Tim