I spent a couple of grand on a top-spec gaming PC and flight controls. I figured I'd do the first three or four sessions in the SIM, then practice at home.
After 6 hours my instructor dropped the bombshell - I had covered everything I needed to know. The rest was just practice! In his opinion the IR is about 30 hours too long. Needless to say the PC has never been out of the box...
I spent my first thousand hours as a VFR pilot in awe of people with an IR - the well kept secret is that instrument flying is actually much easier!