A pilot's license is $5-10k and maybe 400 total hours of time (50+ flight hours, maybe setup and commute to/from, ground school and study). Most of the good/cheap flight schools are in Florida (since the weather is consistent, land/fuel/etc. is cheap -- one of the main issues with doing VFR training in a place with variable weather is that VFR conditions aren't always met). I think Arizona and Texas are popular too.