"Unfortunately this country is so highly regulated in the aviation business that being legal is very difficult."
Wrong in this case. You can legally build and fly a single-seat de-regulated (SSDR) with no regulatory oversight (however, make your own judgements about your own abilities here and maybe get involved with the LAA). You cannot do that legally with, for example, a self-designed, self-built car. Obviously you still need to be trained properly to fly it but assuming you're not suicidal you are unlikely to want to fly untrained.
As for things like low flying rules and controlled airspace around major airports, well yes, to go back to the car analogy, we all drive on the same side of the road and stop at red lights, again unless suicidal.
Flying is awesome, don't listen to forum whingers, do whatever is affordable and floats your boat. It will be effort, time and money well spent that you will not regret.