This is going to get expensive.
Are you better off with dual sticks vs single / throttle? I'm looking at a T16000M, or possibly the Warthog HOTAS which is $315 on Amazon right now (lowest I have ever seen).
Well....I know it's really a personal preference thing, but I'll share my thoughts.
I spent about 40 hours with a HOTAS and about 20 hours with Dual Stick playing AC, and my preference by far is dual stick.
Dual sticks lets you control thruster power for every axis precisely. You won't need special landing and takeoff modes and you won't be bumping all over tapping digital strafe inputs around tight areas.
HOTAS is also fun, but I strongly recommend you get the CH Pro Throttle instead of the Warthog throttle if you go that route. It has an analog thumbstick you can use to control strafe (or roll). It's pretty much the universally recommended throttle for SC.
Note - - if you go with Dual Sticks, you'll need throttle control somehow. I have pedals I map to throttle and reverse strafe (sorry...more peripherals..lol).
Some guys just map forward and reverse strafe to the strafe stick, and then vertical strafe to the twist axis. I didn't like this at all, and I didn't like having to deflect the stick forward all the time for regular flight.
I used the pedals to control strafing when I used HOTAS, which worked well enough, but didn't feel nearly as natural as the sticks. There is a reason why real spaceships are flown with 2 sticks.
The good news is that you don't need an expensive stick for your strafe stick. A $40 Thrustmaster T16000M is ambidextrous and works perfectly, and it has a twist axis you can use for roll (I was skeptical at first, but now I'm a believer).
Keep in mind, you can still just use a M/KB if you want, because right now it's the dominant control input for SC (unfortunately). I don't care about that, because to me it just isn't any fun flying a spaceship with a mouse and keyboard, and having the most FUN is all I'm interested in.
Sorry for the wall of text - - I've just been messing around with trying to find the perfect control method for SC, for me, for quite a while.
TL;DR
If you get a HOTAS, get a CH ProThrottle instead of the Warthog.
I prefer Dual-Stick for the most precise strafe control.
Pedals are very helpful in either instance.
M/KB work great but aren't much fun for me.