Bit late to the party here.
Former ACC student. Just to let you know there has never been a HowardJR at the school, think Miha is running that account spoofing it as a former english student.
If you want my advice, avoid the school. Don't get sucked into the "Glass cockpit" is better, it isn't, there's nothing wrong with the old school "6 pack" as it prevents this "magenta generation" that forms. Best to have a mix in my view.
Aircraft like the old PA-38 weren't well maintained and often you flew with issues in them. Some had electrical fires, radio or even engine failures. The new machines are LSA, which aren't really designed for it. CFI is extremely awkward to deal with and certainly took a lot of the fun out of the hour building which is truly a shame.
This "400EUR" extra, is a kick in the teeth, they charge you before submitting your CPL data, and will charge you for 1 minute over the contract time. Compared to some guys 400EUR is cheap as a surprise charge.