Yawningdog, I have to disagree with you. A non profit-making flying club, run by good quality volunteer instructors, will charge you less per hour than a commercial flying school. The instructors are usually much more experienced, and are either ex-military or professional pilots who instruct in their spare time. By being taught well, you will take less time to reach or exceed PPL standard, so you will pay less on flying time.
To expand on my earlier comment in this thread, when I say I am appalled by the standard of flying I have seen, I would list the reasons as follows:
POOR AIRMANSHIP - bad use of R/T (poor proficiency or excessive rambling), circuits the size of Switzerland, non-existent look-out, bad engine-handling, over-reliance on radio nav or GPS.
POOR FLYING SKILLS - flat or wheelbarrowed landings, no use of the rudder in flight, poor heading and height keeping, shaky navigation technique.
I didn't learn to fly that long ago, so don't class myself in the old school. But I was taught by excellent instructors with a wealth of experience behind them. They had no incentive either to rush my PPL training or string it out in order to make more money out of me. I went solo after about 10 hours and passed my skills test after about 50. Now I'm not immodest enough to claim that I am an above average pilot, but the level of skill and technique that I have seen from other pilots sometimes makes me think.