panpanyourself
yes, things have gotten more expensive all over. when I soloed, in a pa 28-140 in 1975, it rented, wet, for $12US. yes, tweleve dollars. that was about 8 hours work at minimum wage.
and just a 3 years before that, the cost was much less as we hadn't faced our first oil embargo.
things do change and we have to adapt.
and just think, you will never have to fly an NDB approach. you will have excellent navigation devices that take your brain out of situational awareness.
and yes, I've seen things go up in price just as you have and my salary has not kept up with cost of housing.
but, fly safe and keep trying.