The first and most relevant answer is "YouTube". I am writing this actually on my flight simulator hardware. A friend is going through this right now at his house and the options are dizzying. He wanted a helicopter simulator to which I replied ok sure which one and why? He said he didn't know.
Questions you need answers for:
1. Budget budget budget budget
2. Space - how much have you got to play in and where is it - and does it need to be permanent or moveable?
3. Make a list of training outcomes and prioritise them. After beginning the build, do not change the list or the order
4. Decide if the three items above are mutually compatible
Once these items are sorted, you can propose a range of solutions to the club and work from there.
I bought a lot of my simulator parts used and opportunistically but it was still relatively expensive. I think I have saved about what it cost me in dual training.
My most recent "study" was 40 forced landings from various points in the circuit with a 9 knot cross wind. Because the simulator didn't display the view out the side window very well, it wasn't the best solution. I focused on procedures. I always focus on procedures because that is what this simulator is good for. I am not super happy with aspects of the flight model but for what it cost me I am willing to deal with it. One thing that the yoke has done is force me to be very smooth precise on the control inputs.
I use a Saitek yoke. Its basically a crap bit of plastic but it fits in a drawer when I am not using it which could be months in a row.
The flight model I used was a PA28-161. It doesn't fly notably well but the cockpit is correctly rendered.
I would prefer a precision flight controls (PFC) yoke but the training outcome differences aren't worth the cost for me.
A head tracker works well but three 50 inch screens work a lot better. Unfortunately, as a general rule the cost of the simulator doubles when going from one screen to three. This is because of the needed rendering power in the graphics processor(s). This in turn places a bigger demand on the flow of bytes through the computer, which increases the power demand and so-on.
Before settling on a particular flavour of simulation software, see if you can try them all and decide which one meets the need. The deal breaker might be that the flight model yo are looking for isn't supported by that platform, or the model is crap.
Books to look at
"Exercises for Flight Simulator X" by Tarik Merryface
"Flight Simulation for Beginners: A Guide to Get You Started" by Gabriel Accascina
Which cockpits are procedures are you trying to model?