I have read every page of this and I thought I'd chime in on this, too.
First to the OP trying to build XC. Look at the regs: who says you need to land? Your STUDENT, up to the Commercial license needs to land to log it. You don't. Train for 50 miles and turn around. 1.3. XC complete. Done, over with. Ask the Air Force guys. That rule was written for them. I have used and contine to use it with my students and in the military. Knowing the regs and rules is part of your job. Pretty soon that extra 350 you need starts to look pretty darn good and the 500 hour rule pretty stinkin' attainable. It will make you WANT to fly more.
On to the 1500 hours rule and CFI thing.
We are in the midst of a generational upheaval. Guys in our 30's grew up flying under the well-accepted notion that you CFI'd until 1200 hours and some benchmark ME time, then flew night freight for AMF or something like that then went to the regional, etc. etc. That does not appeal to the impatient generation that exists now. I certainly predict that CFI's will become sparse in the near future because the majority of the current generation that we would need to fill that gap isn't going to have the patience to do it plain and simple. If they were smart, they would get their ME ratings during training, get the commercial ME license, and buy a C150 and just fly their tails off while working a day job.
Now, before I get my **** jumped, let me say that CFI'ing is a fantastic profession. You will never learn more about flying and interacting with people than you will as a CFI. It teaches you functional psychology mixed in with some business acumen. You come out of the years you spent as CFI salty and really knowing whether or not you can survive in aviation.
That being said i believe the faster path to is get an IFR ceritified 150 or 172 with a couple of like-minded buddies, and safety pilot with each other as often as you can. Splitting gas between two people is just cheaper than renting.