RHCSA/RHCE Self-Study OS Question

I've been using Linux for about 6 years now mostly at home in an informal capacity, and I would like to get certified and sure up what skills I have for the professional world. I am planning to take the Linux+ then the RHCSA and RHCE exams. I figured that since the Red Hat exams are the standard, I would study for them and pick up Linux+ along the way. Since I don't have the money for the Red Hat classes, and I have taught myself everything I know about Linux already, I figured I'd go the self-study route. I have several books includng the Michael Jang ones, but when it comes to the hands-on practice a question arose, full system install or VM? I'm used to throwing myself into a given task, so my initial instinct was to install RHEL/CentOS on my primary machine. This is also my primary desktop that I use for everyday tasks, media(video and music ripping and playback), programming and some gaming(yes, in Linux). I know that RHEL and CentOS are geared towards a business environment, so many of the more recreational uses of the machine may prove troublesome. On the other hand, there's Fedora, which is similar, but will fare better as a desktop OS in which I could run a CentOS VM. For learning, which is the better option? Does it even make a difference? Your input would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
Goal for 2014: RHCA
Goal for 2015: CCDP
You should be fine with Fedora as the host so long you use KVM as the virtualization software (will likely need to be 64 bit, at least that is true for RHEL) and use RHEL or its clones Scientific Linux or Centos as the VMs for practice for the RHCSA. Fedora is too modern and too different to use for the RHCSA. You should also have a VM with Debian or Ubuntu if you intend to take the Linux+/LPIC first. You will need both RHEL/Centos/SL and a Debian based distro for LPIC/Linux+.