I need some sound advice!

Hi All! I would be so grateful for sum advice! I have just got hold of flightsim 2002 and so far have been using my keyboard-I would really like to get hold of a decent joystick(nothing too extravagent to begin with, as am only a novice!) that has some force feedback on it. Trouble is I am getting confused with what I have read so far regarding what works with what!! Whats making it more confusing for me is that I have windows xp but the socket for where the joystick would go is a 15 pin one-which I have now found out is rather old!! I was going to go for microsoft sidewinder force feedback, but have read that some users have had difficulty with it if they have windows xp and trying to use flightsim 2002 etc. I'm now looking at a saitek cyborg evo force, but again dont know if this will be any good for my system and the 15 pin socket. Any good advice would be greatly appreciated as I quite frankly can't afford to make a mistake with what I buy!

Forget about a gameport stick, USB is better.
All the others are too old and may not work with XP.
Go to a local store, see and try them, make sure it has a twist handle (rudder) and then you can search the net (if you like) for a lower price.
Not too many of us bother with force feedback, this isn't a combat game although you will feel something of course.