I am going thru a similar situation involving Flight controls and after opting for the old standby Sidewinder 3D Pro and having issues with W98SE not recognizing the stick I finally have it working but with only 4 of 8 buttons and hat positions functioning

WTF????So I went shopping and fell in love with the Saitek X45 Digital Joystick Throttle Combo for 79.99 at CompUSA or Fry's..too much for me right now but under the allowance you have established.It has rotary controls for trim,rudder on throttle and too much to list....heck here is a link with a pic
http://special.reserve.co.uk/listings/extrainfo.php?co=GG7802 after seeing that setup and going home with new tactical addition of a Game Voice box I was just a bit depressed having to use my 6 year old joystick for tonites scrim

just sad Micro$haft cant make their own M$ Hardware work with official M$ Drivers on an Official legal Micro$haft OS!!! Well, thats my two cents on the Joystick slant...lets not even mention sound card issues...~~~~>Razor walks away mumbling incoherently to himself*from out of the Sun and into the fray....S~ TX-Razor out!