Just a few comments to all of the above.
1. Do not feel sorry for flying schools, clubs or any of the like. If they cannot stay in business it is because of bad management, particularly in the management accounting side.
2. There is a difference between learning to fly at a club and a professional organisation. Before you spend, ask an independant consultant on the resources you will gain for your money.
3. There is a real concern about the level of professionalism within the industry. Do not think you are 'SMITHY' even he had his fair share of trouble. Do not learn to fly with an organisation with a high turn over rate of instructors, they are really not concerned about you or your career, only your money.
4. Take the time to read books such as 'Redefining airmanship' by Kern, there's more to airmanship than the absolute scribble put at the bottom of the white board that non-informed instructors write because their course instructor said 'this is airmanship'.
5. During your commercial training, ask to remove all seats except the pilot and co-pilot seats, load up real freight,( boxes loaded with tinned food or water containers will do), then do your weight and balance using 40 degree temp and shorten your runways to 900 metres. Believe me, you will better understand what the hell all the fuss is about, when you greet 5 pax at the terminal in your 210 and they have 150 kg of baggage and you have to take them 350nm and have enough fuel to return to base. Some diplomatic people skills will be well worth the effort. But I suppose in the airlines this may not be necessary, so some instuctors will not mention these skills which they do not have.
6. If you ever feel that you are a glorified bus driver, take 2 days off and read the safety digests. You are not you are pilot, there is always something to do. Try starting a trend monitoring process, write down all the engine parameters during the flight at intervals, archive these and review them from time to time. You never no what you might discover.
7. Remember GA is not a playground to have fun in while you are waiting for the airlines. The books are full of unfortunate low flyers, aerobatic and basically show off pilots who are not around to tell you how silly their actions were. I am.
Safety.......Responsibilty.........Safety..........Responsib ility.....Safety