A professionally managed program is certainly likely to be more thorough than ad-hoc training at the FBO. However, many small/medium size schools have 141 or 61 programs that are managed just fine, the only thing you don't get is the advanced training on the DC-9 or space shuttle sim. These small/medium schools will provide all the certs & ratings you need at a realistic cost and are likely to employ you as a CFI. The big-name glossy brochure schools are the ones that sell you a package that costs 3x what it's worth and includes all the "airline training". Many of us are vigorously opposed to these schools because we know so many airline pilots who regret the huge expense.

There is no 250 hour civilian program that can produce a pilot with anywhere near the skills and judgement of a well-rounded 1500 hour pilot. It is possible to be a "shallow" 1500 hour pilot with minimal night, XC, or IMC experience, but anyone who has accumulated ATP mins and worked as a CFI should be head and shoulders above any low-timer. And a few hundred hours as an MEI or flying SE night freight is the true graduation exercise...

Until you have worked in an aviation job where you face compromise decisions between economics, safety, weather, and mission accomplishment, you are just a private pilot, period.


BTW, the military makes pretty good 250 hour pilots by the simple expedient of being extremely selective in picking their students, spending $2M on them, and immediately eliminating anyone who stumbles more than once or twice. Did you master power-on stalls on the FIRST lesson? How about Lazy-eights? Or eight-point barrel rolls? That's what I thought...