The US citizenship certainly helps as without it, you would need an appropriate visa and TSA clearance for anything that constitutes flight training.
Why not take a ride out to McMinville to the
air and space museum and then find a school at KMMV airport opposite and see if you can get a lesson. It wouldn't count to your required training hours, but could be a useful experience.
Airnav lists two flight schools there. I was there very recently but have no knowledge of the flight schools.