Hrmm.. well you're going to need to practise a reasonable amount regardless of which option you take. When I have tried to teach people how to play in the past, the main reason they don't learn anything is because they don't have the muscle memory and strength for it. So really.. you need to grab a chord chart and scales chart or something.. and try playing a few of them.. get good at changing between the different chords.. The E Major, A Major and D Major chords are a good starting point.

Try to practise for at least the same time, every day, that you would spend with your instructor if you chose to go that path.. That's about 30mins a day.. every day.. You really need to get those fingers all calloused up. :) Learn a couple of scales and stuff too of course. Anyway.. after a week or two (depending on how much you practised) you should be at a level that you can make a better assessment of what you really need.