So can someone please tell me - if I choose to fly 45 hours over 6 weeks instead of 45 hours over 12 months - what corners are being cut??
'Perhaps none, perhaps some, it depends upon the capacity of the student to absorb and retain the training. If the student is coming to each next lesson with the previous lesson material well retained, and reviewed, and the instructor is considering and confirming this, then no corners are being cut. But many students would be challenged to retain a good basis of the instruction if it comes at them too fast. For a dedicated student with ground school complete, and few life distractions, 45 hours in six weeks is probably fine. As long as the school will detect those few students who cannot keep up with even that pace.
Some students have gone through, and obtained a PPL without retaining the required basic skills and precision in flying. Worse, is that they don't realize that they really should have some additional training to reach the minimum safe standard - I've flown with a couple for the purpose of more advanced training, which I could not complete with them.