Hi,
I've got the VFR scenery and as long as you fly above 5000' you should find it OK. I would say that unless you have a high-end PC that you may have a problem with frame rate issues. The scenery is all there but it is not 3d so if you are flying low you will see that the ground is all funny colours. But again if you look at these funny colours at 5000' they become roads, rooftops, railways etc. I'd say buy it.
As for controllers, I have a "Thrustmaster Topgun". It has a separate throttle lever which itself has 4 buttons and also a rocker switch that can be used to control the rudder. The joystick also has a twist action for the rudder but there is a switch so that you can select whether to use the rocker switch or the twist action for the rudder. It cost me £30 and is well worth it.
Hope this helps.