"Also any school that wants ALL of your money up front is a big red flag...walk away immediately. You will want to pay in installments of 1K or 2K max"

That's definitely good advice. I have a friend that is completing his MEI at a local part 141 school that recently declared bankruptcy. He also had a substantial loan on the books with them, and has had to rush his final training to burn off the remaining balance of the loan prior to the "school" going out of business. Otherwise, that loan money would have disappeared.

You might consider asking around at your local airports to see what the best training options are in your area. Talk with everyone, CFI's, mechanics, student pilots, etc... to get the true picture. Of all of the "slam dunk" schools that I considered, I would have to say that ATP is fairly well regarded as well as Double Eagle in Tucson Arizona. However, I did not go to either one, as my current 9 to 5 job kept me rooted to this area. I was fortunate to find a couple of CFI's that cared about the *quality* of my training, not the quantity of hours in their log book, and I think that's an important distinction.

--Andy