Hi Bonker, welcome to PoA.
Bunch of Denver folks here. All have opinions on the best schools and what-not, so we'll be able to completely confuse you in about six or seven more posts, easy!
That said, my main experiences in the last ten years are down on this end of town (Centennial) with the schools and instructors down here, so I'll let someone else go first on Rocky Mountain Metro and Erie.
(Both of which had different names in the past, so you'll see us old-timers calling them JeffCo and Tri-County, respectively. You'll also see us referring to their ICAO Airport Identifier codes... KBJC and KEIK.)
Before we go too far, if you're really new to aviation in general, are you familiar with the terms "Sport Pilot" and "Private Pilot"? Also have you run across the term "Light Sport" aircraft, versus "Certificated" aircraft in any of your reading yet?
There's a few different ways to become an aviator these days, so some background on what you might want to do in aviation after learning to fly can help mentors tell you the differences between the methods and what to expect in each, depending on the route you decide to take.
That sounds big, hairy, and scary, though... and honestly -- you can probably call up any flight school at KBJC, KEIK, or even some of the other airports around and find a competent safe instructor who can offer an Intro Lesson at a reduced rate in whatever type of aircraft that particular school is utilizing.
Not to get too personal right off the bat, but some of us Americans are on the big and/or chubby side... the folks I have talked to who are brand new to aviation who meet the weight requirements for Light Sport aircraft REALLY seem to be enjoying themselves.
Skyraider Aviation started out up at KEIK, but they moved most, maybe all, of their aircraft down here to Centennial. They specialize in training in Light Sport aircraft, and their Gobosh is ALWAYS flying at KAPA (Centennial Airport).
There's a non-LSA "traditional" flight school/Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at KEIK also. I know nothing about them, other than they looked like they had some people at the counter and business the last time I stopped at KEIK for fun/fuel/restroom.
Western Air at KBJC always comes highly regarded by folks, especially a few of their Mountain instructors. Also at KBJC, I did training many many years ago at McAir Aviation at KBJC. They're probably still doing similar good-quality training, but I haven't been there in over a decade. I walked in the door not too long ago, and nothing had significantly changed. They lean toward Cessnas, since they're a Cessna Pilot Center -- or whatever Cessna is calling that program these days.
If you feel like traveling down to KAPA, I can recommend an instructor at Aspen Flying Club. I can also steer you away from a few instructors at other schools, but mostly that's personality and personal preference more than it is anything about their flying.
Start askin' questions, we'll all be happy to help out.
I'm also sure any number of us here would be happy to be a more "official" mentor via the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association's "Project Pilot"...
http://projectpilot.aopa.org/projectpilot/ - if you're interested, just holler.
We just had a lunch get-together way down south here this week with a few of the PoA Denver pilots... we were talking about making it a more regular thing. Being that you're up north, I don't know if you want to drive down, but you're certainly welcome anytime! If we decide to make it more regular, it'll be posted here on PoA, for sure.
Also, I'm sure any of us would be happy to just get you up in our aircraft (or if we're renting, in a rental)... my weekend this weekend is already booked with "stuff" (I'm way over-committed to "stuff" right now), including a flight to Greeley, but that flight is a "mission" to go do something up there with family, and not a good candidate for a "fun" flight, since we'll be up there a while before coming back. But most weekends, I'm going up, and would be happy to stop off at an airport closer to your home to pick you up and go fly the airplane around somewhere. Send me a PM, and I'll toss you my phone number and we can keep in touch... I'm sure others here will make the same offer. Some have airplanes that are down for maintenance right now, others travel a lot, but it won't take too long to find a ride for you, if you're even a touch persistent.
Welcome aboard... let us know how we can help. About the only thing we can't fix these days in aviation is the cost... it's not the cheapest hobby in the world... but then again, my buddy who flies on the airlines all over the place to play golf, doesn't exactly have a cheap hobby, either.
Tell us more about yourself, if you like. I'm a geek/engineer/tech weenie for Linux servers, specializing in telecommunications servers, and work in the DTC area right now. Been flying since 1991, took 8 years off once due to budget and not understanding how to find cheaper flying (there's a lot of options, really...), and came back whole hog a few years ago, ended up purchasing 1/3 of an LLC that owns the Cessna 182 in my signature, and just having a ball... and spending all my "discretionary" money on aviation, which is how life should be.
Motorcycles and guitars... you'll find a bunch of folks here on PoA doing those, too. I dabble with guitars, all acoustic so far -- and I'm too chicken to ride motorcycles here in town, but rode dirt bikes a bit when I was a kid.
There's even a couple of PoA Denver Flight Instructors hiding in the woodwork here, they may send you a reply and then you'd be in touch with the folks who can really help you out, so to speak!
