I have zero interest/affiliation with any FTO anywhere. I did my PPL a year ago in Florida, and thus have quite recent experience with the whole process.
I would have preferred to do it in the UK, as I was living there at the time. Unfortunately the basic skills, such as answering emails, seem to be lost on most UK based operations. Out of 20 emails, getting 2 replies is normal, usually 3 days after you've sent them.
Also, weather is a much bigger factor in northern Europe, especially in the UK, than it is in Florida (let alone AZ). An interrupted intensive course is a massive pain (I guess this is my definition of massive pain in the back heh...). Yes, it is possible to do a 2-week PPL in Europe, but you will need some luck with the weather. Florida is much more consistent with its weather patterns.
When I was doing my research, I read alot about the hassle on getting the visa and so on. I found the whole process very well organised.
School sends you your I-20. The rest, SEVIS, flight school candidate registration and so on you can do yourself.
I actually flew to Belfast for my interview. I was out from the embassy at around 11AM. I forgot one paper(proof of funds, screenshot of online banking with funds available was enough), which I emailed to them later. Visa/passport was in my mailbox 3 working days after they received the email. Absolutely none of that bullying people often warn you about.
I find it very difficult to understand how taking a day off work would be a no-go item for flight training.
Flight training in the US prepares you for flying in Europe very well. This obviously depends alot on your instructor, but that is the same everywhere. There's no need to take lessons when coming back to Europe if you don't want to, the usual PPL training books are enough to understand the differencies.
The OP can decide, which place works best for his plans. I'm just giving feedback on my recent experience with the US visa/flight training policies.
To summarize my points; Avoid northern Europe (weather), and US visa is nothing to be scared of.
I don't have a problem with flying clubs, I'm a member of a couple. No chance to do an intensive course on them, not enough availability during the summer months.
Scheduling is a 4-dimensional puzzle, where you must find a slot when you, the plane, and the instructor are available, and the weather cooperates.
For an intensive course, you must solve this puzzle every day for 2-3 weeks. This summer was very nice, but a year ago, not a chance anywhere north from Paris.
Like I said earlier, money shouldn't be the reason to go to Florida. You can probably do it cheaper in Europe, that is very true. The reasons to go to Florida are the experience itself, and the certainty of getting it done in a reasonable timeframe.
For an intensive stripper-free(they are expensive there!) 3 week trip to FL, you'll end up paying probably around 8000EUR including the visa and other random costs. You can do it cheaper elsewhere, true, but again, people who go there thinking it'll be cheap, quick and involv alot of partying are the ones who come back with no ticket and huge complaints about how crap it is there.
mad_jock: In Florida those prices are way higher than average. $40-50 per hour of instruction and $20-30 for ground is closer to average. I paid for 0 hours of ground during my PPL, but I went there well prepared.