I think it is more than a few thousand dollars when you consider all of the costs for a rating that is rarely needed in most parts of the country providing your flying is private and you have the luxury of flying on the days you want to. Consider the initial rating as a starting point, then there is the need to fly IFR rated aircraft to use it which is extra cost again (if you can find one.) The need to stay current and the cost of doing the renewals etc. For a private pilot the cost becomes prohibitive and all you achieve is to drive people away from the industry.
I think there is a better way ie NVFR rating which gives you some extra training and the appreciation of the dangers of flying non VMC and hopefully prevents pilots from trying it, plus the NVFR is more useful to most PPL's anyway as it gets dark every day but not IMC every day.
Another good idea is to buy a flight sim program to run on your computer so you can practice. None of the above is intended to get pilots to go fly IFR but might just save their behinds if they should unexpectedly get caught in it.