aa73, I had the pleasure to fly MD 80s for ten years before hopping on the bus and I must say that the good old MD felt like "my wings", we where one once I strapped in and the JT8s where running. Then came the A 320 course and after 10 minutes in the Sim I loved the fly by wire, the comfy office and all the electric gismos. Today, after 11 years of "busdriving" I still don't miss moving throttles or flightcontrols at all. Airbus has "golden rules" and No. 1 says: " This aircraft can be flown like any other aircraft" and they are right. You can treat it like a proper aircraft and it will do anything a conventional aircraft does, plus a lot more.
I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!