I'd suggest a Thrustmaster Cougar. Best damn joystick ever made for the masses. Pick up some RCS rudder pedals too. That is the combination I run. There is also an X52 in the family, but you will break that thing. And holding it it creaks with the plasting moving together. Its just a cheap stick with a decent number of buttons.
Since you care about durability, the Cougar is not only 22 pounds of pure metal (buttons included, so don't drop it on your foot), it can be had for as little as $200 these days:
http://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-H.../dp/B000062SSB
The Cougar has an actual onboard computer so you can make it do things you can't have any other stick do. It has a full programming language, but if that is too much to you, it also includes some excellent GUI software to ease simeple things - but better than the Saitek in many respects.
It packs a 24 MHz CPU, 64K of RAM, 32 DirectX buttons, and up to 10 axis, but it ships with 7. It is user serviceable allow you to change or do anything you want with POTS as they get old. It has a built in joystick mouse as well.
It is a pure digital system as well - Where a Saitek x52 will pack 256 positions possible for a single axis, a Cougar packs 65535 positions possible for a single axis making it as accurate as an analog joystick. Ever notice why people beat you butt with analog sticks? This is one reason.
Now the best part - it is not much more than an x52 these days.
Anyway, this is not all, but if you haven't bought it in your mind yet, you aren't going to.
-S