I would say the best way to answer this problem is to use the method KFC. I know it sounds dumb, but my math teacher gave it to me and taught us well.
KFC stands for Know, Find, and Create.
We know that the computer costs $1,716. He will pay $143 a month for 12 months.
Now, we need to find out what equation can demonstrate how much money he still owes after each month of the plan.
I believe that you can best represent this equation with $143(12 months) = $1,716. Now, you need to figure out how much money he owes after each month of the plan.
y = the money he still owes x = the number of months (from x = 0 to x = 12) y = 1,716 - 112x
