The bottom line is that you need to find a good instructor. If you are looking for a guy who went to the big leagues and didn't like it or the guy who never left flight instruction, 61 is probably right for you. If you are looking for structure 141 is the way to go unless you are really self-motivated.

Rick, a couple of points of disagreement...
As far as repeating, I only needed to see my students demonstrate the performance required. If that took one time, great. But more often than not, students did not perform at the required level, so we had to work on those areas. There are some who try to milk the system, but that's true 61, 141, wherever.

At my school we charged equal or less compared to the FBO on the field. Maybe they were overcharging, but we tried to stay competitive. There are deals to be found, but you need to do the research and it depends on the area you live in or are willing to move to.