RANT is excellent, both as a tutorial and as a tool for trying things out. When trying things out it is both an advantage and a disadvantage that you don't have to actually spend any effort flying the plane. It's good in that (a) you're not kidding yourself that it is real and (b) you can concentrate on the navigation and use of the nav aids. However, (b) is also the disadvantage after a while - whilst nobody would argue that PC flight simulators are completely realistic that doesn't mean to say there is no value in them being as realistic as possible. In other words, having to concentrate on flying the plane (holding a level and a heading for example) whilst you're juggling other things in your head is a more realistic setup and ultimately more useful as a result.
Microsoft flight sim is fine for this stuff, but I prefer x-plane. The flight model is more realistic, which you may or may not care about, but also the whole thing is much more fluid and the response of the instruments are more realistic than Microsoft's. It is at least as good as the other simulators you mention, cheaper than most and has some interesting/fun other options too. You can download a trial from their website.