Although I have nothing against brushed systems. The brushed systems in the SC rtr's is pretty lacking. I have seen many a motor go poof in the xxx scb and sct. I dont imaging the AE is any better. The sc's are a little heavy and the brushed motors struggle. In all honesty, I would get the traxxas rtr. It is also brushed, but it has a 550 sized larger brushed motor. The traxxas slash is a great first time truck and works well bashing (driving in parking lots and grass). As it was stated above brushless is better, but will cost more. If you really get into racing and find that the slash is holding you back, you can ebay the truck and pickup a "racing" truck. Racing trucks tend to sit lower to the ground and be more fragile. The traxxas is know for its durability. Keep in mind, you will also need to buy a charger. Tower hobbies has an "easy pay" system that lets you break the payment up over 3 months, so this might make it easier for you to buy what you need.
This is the truck i am referring to.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXAPUW**&P=ML