IFR training material overload

Hi All,

I've been snooping the rec.aviation.* groups for a while, and I'm
still lost.

I want to start studying for my IFR rating. I'm from the US, resident
in Japan, and so I reckon on studying on my own then taking the test
on some trip back to the states one day. I've seen a variety of
opinions, and I've looked at some stuff on my own, and it seems ...
without actually holding the materials in my hand ... that I can make
the following subjective (and unsubstantiated :-) claims:

- The Jeppesen materials are pretty good.
- The Gleim materials are great, but only teach you to pass the test.

I thought to myself, 'hey, great, I'll go buy the Jepp stuff', but if
you get on the Jeppesen web site, there are about 47 different
possible combinations of study things to get. I didn't realize it was
so difficult! I think I worked out I don't want Part 141 stuff, but
there's still quite a bit.

So my question is -- what to do? Those of you who swear by the
Jeppesen stuff, what exact Jepp stuff is it of which you speak?

I'm thinking I want a nice book (or set of books), I don't much care
for video tapes, and some giant pool of sample tests would be
wonderful (even better would be a CD/software package that would gin
up sample tests for me to take out of some pool of questions). Seems
like searching for opinions on that would be easy, but I've only
gotten more confused in the searching.

Thanks for any guidance,

Brian