[B]Big Mike
The FAA IFR program is as follows:
40 hrs TT which can be 30 hrs in approved FAA sim and 10 hrs in R44 plus 35 hrs ground school.
Takes about 1 month to complete, cost is USD 8380
I enquired about it in Hawaii and can pm u the school name if you wish. Some of my Oz and Kiwi mates went there. You can get your CASA license validated to an FAA PPL by the local FAA inspector. It will require your license to be verified prior to your arrival in the US (takes about 5 weeks or so to receive your confirmation letter) then do a security check, finger printing etc, cost about USD130
Anyway cheaper than Oz. You can also build IFR time in a C172 for USD135/hr
Cheers