Really? The CFI and II are nothing when it comes to flying. If you do less than 20 hours of ground school to 1 hour of flying in either certificate, you are getting screwed. I can't see why you couldn't do both for $1,000. The MEI is more pricey, especially with the pic time required, but $2,000 should be doable if you split some time with another MEI candidate. In any case, even if you go over, $3,000 should go a long way towards getting the certificates.