Not to hijack this post, but happen to know what ATP pays their instructors? There ... I hijacked it anyway. :D

I went to ATP for my CFI/CFII/MEI...got hired as an Instructor and didn't have 50 hours dual-given when I got on with a Regional. It was probably the best thing I ever did for my career for two reasons:

1) The Pace of their program prepared me for Basic Indoc and Systems.
2) The instruction (even for the short time I was there) was an EXCELLENT experience...and all in the Seminole.

Don't expect to get rich there though - if you take their provided housing they Doc your 1K a month by two hundred...so take home is $800 (put a few bucks away per month for uncle sam at the end of the year). I'd do it the same way again!!

Well somebody had to say it.

Actually, it didn't need to be said at all.

Many flight schools will also give you a break if you're instructing there. Get your initial then the other ones. At the least, your fellow instructors should hook you up with free dual.

Thanks for all the input.

I know about the cheaper CFI options out there, like ATP's program. In fact, I just checked out one of their major locations with the intention of being there in a few weeks. Although it looks great on paper and on the phone, after further "consideration" I want to find another option. And if I go down the CFI road (which I'm leaning toward), I'll have to FIND a way to make it work -- in terms of money -- at the school I'm at right now.

You could go to Pan Am in phoenix and they would pay for your initial CFI, give you a $500 bonus and 30 days free housing.
http://www.panamacademy.net