To add to what redsnail has already said, you also need to ask yourself, "what is it you want"?
If you want a CPL/IR with 250 hours and the basic tool to apply for "aerial work" and entry level jobs wherever they may be found, then the modular route is probably the way to go. Anybody with a Class one medical certificate and a reasonble level of aptitude and determination should be able to save money on the required training and testing necessary for licence aquisition.
If you seriously intend to have a shot at an airline pilots job with only 250 hours, then the best bet is through that airlines "cadet scheme" if it operates or subscribes to one. For those that do, they will virtually all do so through affiliated, integrated programmes through (in the UK) one of the "Big 3" training providers (CTC, FTE, Oxford.) This will be either through an integrated ATPL scheme, or possibly the more recently introduced MPL scheme.
Pretending that there is some sort of "mix & match" scheme is pointless. Airlines are not short of candidates. The flexibility and cost benefits that these schemes give those companies is also protected by the assurance they are provided by having those low houred entrants come from recognised, monitored and mentored training providers.
Where recruitment is occuring now it is sourcing these integrated low houred cadets via these schemes, as well as experienced type rated and qualified pilots. There is no shortage of pilots from either source, and there is isn't likely to be in the forseeable future.
You only have to look at the recruitment that is now occuring in those airlines that are recruiting to see evidence of this. Then take a look at the expansion in facilities that is for example taking place at Flybe in Exeter. The number of people going through "wings" courses at CTC. New MPL programmes at Oxford in conjunction with Easyjet. Affliated ATPL/MPL programmes with FTE. All of these courses are well subscribed, and likely to be able to amply provide for any short term requirement. They also have the ability to ramp up quickly to meet any anticipated future need. Couple this with the stock of experienced pilots such as those looking to move up their own career ladder, as well as the easily converted stock of career change military pilots, and you see just how squeezed those "modular candidates" are now and are likely to be in the future.
The CPL/IR and 250 hours is the bottom rung of the ladder without one of these "fast track" programmes. It is a ladder that can certainly be climbed, but the difficulties and frustrations involved, as well as the likely attrition rate, shouldn't be underestimated by anybody.
So again, before asking yourself "which is cheaper," you need to understand what it is you actually want from the outlay, before that cost becomes the overriding factor. If it is airline employment......
Ask yourself the following questions:
1) Which countries do I have the unrestricted right to live and work in?
2) Which of those countries principal languages do I speak fluently?
3) Where do the airlines in these countries employ their "low hour" pilots from?
4) Is my proposed training programme likely to elicit any interest from these airlines, based on their current recruitment requirements?