A3 / 172s are lovely aircraft, a joy to fly. Nice avionics, 2 axis coupled AP in the A3 which will pretty much take you down an ILS right to the tarmac. I prefer the A3 myself, although the C172's have nice leather seats [I'm a low wing man]. All are 180HP, the 172's are fuel injected.
You can buy 'monthly' or it might be 3 monthly aircraft insurance for around $70 if you plan on a lot of hours.
Cheers
EA
