Wow,
So many questions!
I will do my best to answer all in one posting. Hope its not too confusing.
sydneyc,
You cannot work in the U.S. with a license based on a license from another country. So you will need the get an unrestricted F.A.A. license. All your flight time counts so you would need to take the written, fly with an instructor for a few hours to get used to the F.A.A. system and you can take the CPL Check Ride. IR or IFR as its called in the U.S. will need to be taken and can be combined with the CPL check ride.
finalcheckspleas,
I pay on a two week pay period and my instructors average 75 to 100 hours of instruction per pay period. The big advantage in Florida is the weather. We are able to to fly VFR around 360 days a year. I had a gentleman in my office yesterday who owns a flight school in Northern England. We were talking about flight time on aircraft. We were looking at the amount of flying my C-152s were doing. I had a C-152 fly 194 hours last month, and his comment was that he was happy when each of his planes fly 360 hours in a year.
GPS Approach,
I will email you shortly. I also wanted to let you know that I do not offer the J-1 visa. So if you wanted to get into a program I described in this thread it would have to be with another school. I would be happy to get names of schools for you or you can contact the U.S. Embassy and they will provide you with a list also.
Hope I was not too confusing,
Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.