Thanks for the great suggestions, guys! Will try and decipher though the links and hopefully come up with a decision. As much as I would like to just choose one, I like to know where my money is gong haha.
No real preference in aircraft, would like reasonable pricing on G1000 equipped.
TXTBOOK, I live in the Rowland Heights/Walnut area.
I'd try out Brackett or El Monte - maybe Cable based on your location. The most important thing is to shop around for a good instructor. Take a few demo flights - find someone who you mesh with... not just show up at a flight school and it's 'Hey, Bill! You aren't doing anything, right, you want a new student?"
As for a G1000 - I'd say, no you don't. You want to learn in a Warrior or a 152 or a 172 with four instruments:
The tachometer, an airspeed indicator, your eyes, and your ears. You are in SoCal, so you don't really even need a compass... the mountains are to the north, some hills to the south, if you hit ocean you've gone too far to the west, if you end up in the desert you've gone east, Vegas is about an hour ahead. (or maybe Phoenix if you take the 10 out of town)
Seriously... start your training in a plane that doesn't have a lot of fancy gadgets - later on, when you get your license, get a checkout in a plane with a G1000 for some fun cross country flights. (Although, seriously, you can't get lost in SoCal) It'll be worth it if you ever have a problem, because, you want your first instinct to be to fly the plane, not reaching for knobs to fix your PFD's. At this stage, it's not about the gear the plane is equipped with, it's about learning the basics, and learning them well.
) but with the abundance of choices for flight schools in the Southern California area, i'm having a bit of trouble deciding. 
