Time and Money

It takes the average person over 60 hours of flight time to get a private pilots license. There will normally be a 2-4 hours of ground work for each of these hours - including self-study, watching videos, doing tests/exams (mock and real), theory sessions with the CFI, flight planning, pre-flighting the plane etc. Given most people can only fly on the weekends this stretches the elapsed time out a lot. Also bear in mind that weekends get busy so you may not be able to fly when you want to - the planes and instructors may be booked well in advance. Weather will blow you out on many weekends - could be poor visibility or icing in winter - or thundershowers and winds in summer. Plus you may have a few things on the weekends apart from flying that you absolutely need to do - or a team that you follow which will be vying for your time/support in the pub. Speaking of which - flying limits your drinking and socializing time - you must be rested and alert for flight (so no late nights before an 8am flight)... and there must be a minimum of 8 hours since your last drink before you fly (you must not be hungover either)

Time is money. The longer you take to get certified - the more it will cost. (You will need some time to remember/refine things after a break - before you get back into developing new skills.) Each hour you spent in the plane with the engine running could be from $100-130 (North-East US prices). Each hour with your instructor (on the ground or in the plane) will be $50-60. Add that up for all the hours above. You may want a ground kit (you may need one if the flight school uses them) containing books, DVDs and mock-tests etc. These are normally tailored to the FAR-141 or 61 curriculum to ensure you are instructed in a standardized manner. They cost around $300. A Third Class medical certificate is needed from a FAA accredited doctor (Aviation Medical Examiner)- about $100. The FAA knowledge and practical tests cost a couple of hundred. You may want to buy your own flight gear (flight bag, headset $200-300, fuel tester, flight computer etc) which will add up also. More on those later.

But as you can see - the cost adds up pretty quickly. So make sure you have savings or a steady income to support it. Expect it to be upwards of $9000 depending on how quickly you get it done and how much the plane rental is. (BTW: don't rent the most expensive plane at the school - use a workhorse plane to learn the basics rack up most of the hours. You don't need GPS on the plane if you are practicing landings - and you can't use it for your cross country navigation anyway)

Some schools will let you bulk buy time in advance for "a discount" but most will want you to pay as you go which can help spread the cost over several months. I would be wary of any school offering a fixed cost as you won't know in advance how many hours you will need to be comfortable let alone to get your license. Some schools offer financing - as do some banks with student loans... and you can also do this via Sallie-Mae (https://www.salliemae.com) if still offered and you qualify.