QUERY
Speaking as one who has done some training in the US a couple of times and knows many others who've done the same, I think people are becoming more savvy in their choice of school. The "cheapest deal" often ends up costing far more than going somewhere reputable in the first place once the "extras" are added in. Or after you've added in the extra cost of accommodation etc when you lose a few days because of overbooking or a plane going u/s. Safety aside, even if it's cheaper in pure dollar terms, you usually get what you pay for - cheap flying schools use cheap aircraft and cheap instructors, cut corners wherever possible and turn out pilots with skills to match.
Flying training isn't a commodity - there's far more to getting value for money than just the headline per-hour flying cost.
PPRuNe has helped a lot in sorting out the rip-off merchants from the professional flying schools and it shows in threads like these - first people narrow down the list to where they'd be happy to train. Once they're down to the reputable schools they don't need to waste bandwidth here asking about prices - much easier to phone the school direct.