Helibiggles
Judging by a recent discussion in this forum about training in the UK, the R22 rental price you quote doesn't seem very different from prices in the UK.
Training in an R22 here costs about £210
pr/hr plus tax.
Fuel is very expensive because of our extremely high fuel tax, and FI costs are about £40
pr/hr even for a newly qualified QFI with nothing like the 17000 hours you mention.
£170 for an R22 + £40 for the FI plus tax @ 17.5% = £246.75 per hour.
Not surprisingly, if family/work commitments allow, many Brits train in America where fuel is much cheaper and FI hourly rates are less than half here.