Your best option if you don't pick one of the above from Brooke, IMO is to get a "home built" system - this doesn't mean that you have to assemble it yourself, there are tons of companies out there which essentially let you pick all the components just as you would for a home build, but for an extra 50 to 75 dollars will assemble, test, and upload all the drivers/windows/etc and then ship it to you as a completed computer. If you don't want to build it yourself, this is the best way to take advantage of lower prices, more selection/preference when it comes to specific hardware and/or brands, as well as have every component tested so it isn't dead on arrival. This all said, either of those Brooke posted will suit your purpose here very well, and they are very competitive in the $ department, leaving you ample $ for other things such as you monitor and controller(s).
NCIX.com is a decent place to do this, however if you check your local area, there is typically a "gamer" shop or 3 around, just do a google search and a reddit search for that, or post what city you're in. Check out pcpartpicker.com as well to see what others are building in your price range.
Regarding VR unless you want to pump your budget up, have that on the back burner for now. Next would be the monitor you're going to use then instead - try and get a 144hz gaming LCD to take advantage of the higher FPS and visuals, you can find one in your budget range of $1200 with your PC and stick. Of course you can play with a 60hz or a TV that has a good gaming capability just fine as well, personal pref here for sure, however ask any person that has gone to a 144hz LCD and they'll NEVER go back, there are many here which will repeat this. I suppose you CAN get into VR in your price range, if you bump up to a 1070 card and get the Rift for 600$, you're pretty much at the limit of $1200 then with an i3 system as above, but you could find a very cheap used 1080p 24" for $100ish sort of thing and be right there or close if you absolutely wanted to go the VR route. Since you would be gaming in VR and not the LCD it's quality wouldn't be as important anyway.
Controller would be the next thing, decide if you're going to be happy with 1 stick for all solution, IE throttle, stick and twisty stick for the rudder - if so than the link already posted above for the TM stick will suit just fine, and you can upgrade later if you want in this department.
Bottom line is you can easily get back into the game now with your budget, and have a very good gaming PC which will not only last quite a while, but also give you the capability to play anything out there. Just search around, read a lot of reviews and check out a lot of builds here and elsewhere, and take your time. The good news is there aren't really a lot of "wrong" answers to your problem right now, lots of good CPU/GPU/hard drive/controller/monitor/etc options out there for this game at the moment.
