"Don't go for the flashy brochure" you say.
Well, would you go to a school that has a photocopied flyer, done on an old typewriter which punched a hole through the "o"s ? If they can't afford to advertise, they shouldn't be in the game. Can they afford to service their machines? Do they pay their instructors properly? Do they make the students pay for a cup of coffee? Do new CPLs hang around the place for no pay and fight over a positioning flight?
You get what you pay for in this game (except if you need CASA's services...)