The skills are priceless. Get it, definitely. But try to get a "modern" instructor; one who knows GPS. IFR is de facto GPS these days. The rest of the stuff one should know, for a backup and to pass the exam
IMHO the chance of it simply being banned is under 10%.
Plus the earliest "end" date is 2012. That's an awful long time in politics (and flying
) and this issue is going to become red hot nearer the time, not least because there is zero precedent in aviation for summarily stripping a few k pilots of a relevant privilege.