I've been doing it for 24 years now. Helicopters have come a long way and are very tempting to me lately but I just have too many planes in the build process right now.
Maybe next year or later this year...
www.towerhobbies.com
www.horizonhobby.com
www.rcgroups.com
www.rcuniverse.com
If you get one of those ready to fly helicopters and have money to burn get one of the dual rotors first as they are super stable.
Then, once you're good with that go to a collective pitch model. DON'T GET A FIXED PITCH BIRD. As once you advance past hovering they become quite a handful.
Also, an rc simulator will pay for itself in uncrashed birds. I use RealFlight but MRC's REFLEX is extremely nice looking as well.
PM me if you have any questions or post them here - I'll do my best to answer them.
Electrics have also come a very long way and with brushless motors and lipo batteries seriously long flight times are becoming normal.