I am a VA pilot as well. All my flight time from Instrument to MEL Comm has been re-imbursed 60% from the VA. While not all ground school and stuff is paid for, it varies by the curriculum set by the school. For my ground school for MEL the VA did not pay for the schools required 3 hrs on the G1000 sim, so it was an out of pocket expense. Your solo time is paid for at 60% as thats what i got for my COM SEL.
Just like many vets like myself its such a financial drain to have to put the money upfront and wait weeks to get hit up by the VA. Sometimes it requires a call to your senator to get things going.