Just exercise a bit of caution with the US schools and never pay upfront any more than £1000 - if any at all.
UK standards tend to be better too.
Talk about inflamatory statements. What utter crap.
Never part with any money up front that you're not comfortable with regardless of whether it is an American, English, French, South African, Ukrainian, Mongolian or operating in Australia. Each, in this economic climate, is just as likely to fold as the other.
Standards....well, don't get me started. There are just as many rogue UK schools that don't do too well in that department. I know some excellent US trained pilots and I know some VERY poor UK trained pilots. GIGO rules.
Now to the specifics....
1) Research what system you want to work in, why and what benefits it has over the other systems.
2) Find a school that you trust, with an instructor or instructors you get on well with.
3) Study any/all training literature well in advance. Get the exams done before heading off for the training. Yes it's possible.
4) Pre-read all of the exercises and prepare well for each and every sortie.
Yes, with preparation it is possible to do your PPL in 28 days. Yes it is possible to do the exams before you head off to get into the aircraft. That works for both FAA or JAA systems - suspect its true for most systems.