Don't freak, but its not cheap.

In 2006 I got my private, that is flying for fun for just under $6,500.  That was at rates around $100/hour for a 172SP.  A student who recieved his liscense last summer paid $10,000 for the same certificate.

I would find the hourly rate of their training aircraft, multiply it by 40 (minimum number of hours required for p.p.l.)  The next step in training is earning an instrument rating, which is a minimum of another 40 hours.  After that it is 250 hours (someone correct me if I'm wrong) for Commercial Certificate.  That means you can get paid to fly, but not to "fly for hire" like a charter pilot.  However It is possible to get a flying job like right seat regional airline or medevac.  One of my co-workers had 600 hours I believe to get a right seat job flying a King Air.  The next requirement would be CFI, which could help build time.  After that it is Airline Transport Pilot Certificate, which is 1200 hours.  You should also take into account that not everyone is ready to recieve their certificate at the minimum number of hours and many people take longer.

If you plan on going for it, go all out, don't spread out your training.  I recieved my certificate in 6 months, and that was with me flying 2-3 days a week before school.  In that June I didn't do much flying because of work and bad weather, and it felt like starting over when I started flying again!  To ensure I didn't spread out too much I took out a loan to pay for it (which I just paid off btw!)

Weather is another consideration, if you are in Buffalo, you might go 3 weeks of unsuitable weather for flying in the winter.  Here Fall is nice, winter is mild and even better, spring is spotty with storms, and summer is miserable with heat.

Minimum time for a multi-engine rating is 10 hours of instruction.  Most companies prefer as much multi engine time as possible.

That's great news! But don't expect to bang out the PPASEL in a summer, even if you are free to fly every day, and have the money. Especially with the weather in your area, as was pointed out.

Part of becoming a pilot is learning to deal with delays and disappointment.  

The average for the PPASEL is about a year, although there are exceptions, of course.

The road to the ATP, and a job using it, can be long and arduous (and expensive!!!), and the prize is really only worth the trouble if that's what you really, really want to do (not if you want to make a lot of money, or fly the coolest planes on the coolest routes).  You have to want it bad enough to not care if you are heavily in debt for years, living out of a suitcase, and constantly in danger of suddenly losing your job.  Every airline pilot I've talked to about this tells me the same thing: the reason they went for it and stuck with it is because they just love the flying. I know a few who had to give up even though they loved the flying... it can be a hard life.

But I'm not trying to discourage you, just help you choose the best goals. Remember also that there are plenty of flying jobs other than the airlines, like corporate, charter, fractional-ownership fleets, etc.

Who knows? Somewhere along the line you may decide you really want to be a career instructor, or you can't get enough of flying a jump plane at a busy skydiving school. There's always a demand for pilots for those "lesser" jobs, even though they don't always pay less than an entry-level airline job, because for most pilots, everything other than airline flying is just a way to get paid to build hours for a while. A pilot who's willing to "settle" might be treated very well, especially an instructor who wants to stick around.

BTW... despite the fact that having your instrument ticket  would make you employable for a greater range of jobs, it's not a requirement for the commercial, and there are flying jobs that don't require the instrument rating... some of them good time-builders.

Financing all this with loans is a pretty common option, especially after the PP. Multi training is quite expensive. Turbine training time even more so.  I think most people nowadays don't get to an airline seat without a substantial debt, which can be hard to pay off, given the typical entry-level pay.

But for now, there are easier ways to shave cost:

For starters, don't just jump at the first school, shop around. The fanciest flight school is not necessarily the best- you can get excellent training without all the window dressing or brand-new aircraft. I don't think any commercial operator or airline is going to care if you got your PP with instructors wearing uniforms or in a brand-new airplane. there's a limit, of course- even a more "budgt" school should be "vetted" first by you... ask around, make sure they're reputable.

Look at your "commuting" costs to and from the training airport as a factor. It adds up.

If possible, pay for your time in advance, in blocks. Most schools offer a discount if you buy time in blocks. But make sure it's refundable if you have to stop for some reason... like for example you come to the airport for your lesson and the school has vanished.

Another way to save money on the primary training is to always remember that they are working for you, not the other way around. Ask questions, be well-versed on what is required of you, don't be passive about equipment problems, scheduling screwups, unnecessary review due to instructor turnover, etc. This could also save you calendar time in reaching your goal.

Yes, duh...I also forgot!  Flying clubs can be an excellent way to get started. Some money up front, but that's not much different from buying a block of dual. A club with instructor-members can be perfect for getting the PP and even he other certs with lower rates for everything, and it can be fun just to be part of a club, depending on the other members.

A big  thing to watch out for with clubs is the situation where the club has a clique of experienced pilots at its core that likes to have new members pumping in dues so they can hog the airplanes. This is atypical but it can happen. As with a flight school, it's best to ask around, to get the "skinny" on the organization.

The general checklist when researching flying clubs also includes the following "good to have" points:

-Decent, airworthy airplanes
-Good member-to-airplane ratio (also find out how many members are active- many club members are not, which is good for those who want to fly)
-A well-organized reservation system
-An entry or initiation fee that actually buys you a share of the airplanes
-Regularly-scheduled meetings
-Hourly rates on he planes should be "wet" (fuel included, the club reimburses you) and it should be tach time, not Hobbs time (tach timer varies with engine rpm, so you pay less to taxi, etc.)

Regarding the IR: I only mentioned that it is not required prior to the commercial because you may reach a point where you want or need to get paid to build time, while you save up to tackle the IR.

Just a suggestion, but military is always an option to get everything taken care of without paying.
You might be thinking when I say military, front line army, marines, iraq, war, and etc. but im speaking of like the Air Force and etc.

Also I know some aeronatical colleges you could attend,
I found this at a college fair in April and im very interested in this school,
http://www.erau.edu/db/degrees/ap_program/

People graduate there and fly for airliners such as Delta, American, and United.

These were just my suggestions, but im sure the tips above me are more into detail.

...I got help once asking about airliners, they said when you start you get paid CRAP money and its hard to get routes and etc. but after a while when you rank up and everything it gets better. If your planning on paying for it, I know its alot of money.

Thats why im interested in the Navy and Air Force. In college hopefully I can go to their ROTC, then become an officer, and try and get my pilots license. Although my eyes are 20/400 right now  I dont see that happening so im more towards the Navy so I can work on a vessel.

When I asked Embry Riddle (link above) about eye requirements they told me 20/20 no exceptions but allowing contacts and glasses. So thats my biggest choice right now and although its expensive school-$54,000 a year including flying they have Air Force and Army ROTC which you can get big scholarships from.

Although that was just what I knew from my head  , you should be thinking about college to...its not to soon, im only a freshman

Don't rule out a big university. I've spent a lot of time flying out of KOSU. The Ohio State University bases their flight training there. I've gotten friendly with countless graduates, as they spend a stint there as instructors... with their instrument/multi-engine/commercial credentials.. AND  degrees in aeronautic engineering   

skoker wrote on May 3^rd, 2009 at 7:35am:

Yeah its very expensive and thats why 1 out of every 4 students that attend are in Air Force ROTC.
That's why its got my interest but your not looking to go into that probally.

Well ive already decided that I want to get my degree in Aeronatical Engineering but secondary would be Geology.

I didn't know other schools like Ohio State had programs or stuff like that. Thats pretty cool but I dought ill be getting into Ohio State, im sure they require grades like yours skoker . Im only pulling out 3.2 and etc which is nice.
I most likely wont get into a big university but whichever I pick you guys will for sure hear about it from me in 3 years!  

and I hope goes the same for you Skoker....(next MIT student)

Steve M wrote on May 3^rd, 2009 at 2:58pm:

Im pretty sure that glass cockpits are a new thing and more technology based...
http://www.langaair.com/images/172SPglass.jpg
As you can tell by the picture...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=glass+cockpit+training&aq=f&oq=
There's some glass cockpit training resources.