I started off with my android phone in a $15 phone-based VR headset flying X-plane using SteamVR on a 10yr old graphics card. I had to turn down the graphics a lot but it was still better than using 2 monitors with (webcam) head tracking. I also spent $60 making a helicopter collective control by using a USB handbrake control from eBay (also on AliExpress) which has an Arduino in it you can reprogram to make it much more sensitive.