you cannot simulate the learning.
you can only use a sim to practise something that has already been learnt.
I have a friend who is a pilot entranced by microsoft flight sim. 'I haven't flown more than five hours in the last year but I have flown over a thousand hours in the sim' was a claim he made once.
well what is quite observable is that he has gradually lost his flying skills to the point that he is quite dangerous to fly with. subtly over time his flying memory has been replaced with a sim handling memory.
in a cherokee 140 one day he needed to do a crosswind landing and made the entire approach without touching the rudders. even in the flare and touchdown his passenger said he never used rudder. the effect was that he nearly lost the aircraft off the end of the runway in what should have been an easy landing.
his flight sim didn't have rudder pedals.
you can pretend all you like that you can learn flying in a sim but encounter some real adverse weather, some real challenges and you'll be stuffed.
you need to learn it in the real environment.
it isnt hard. it is actually very satisfying fun.