The USA used to be much cheaper. I got my FAA IR there, 26hrs TT, for about $3-4k and that included airline tickets. The same amount of flying, with the hotel residence usually implicit on the FTO scene if training intensively, would have cost 3x to 5x that in the UK even if one could do it in the same hours.
But I stayed in a crappy motel, cycled to the school, did self catering, and the costs out there were a lot lower then.
The biggest benefit is that one gets one's head down and gets on with it, which builds up skills fast.
Florida wx is OK but not guaranteed so there is a significant risk...
Mickey - where is your school? Sounds interesting.