The dream is alive..

So this year I haven't flown since July 13th. The flying bug has been bugging me throughout 2011 and I decided to take steps and finish up my training. I am 30 years old now and I have no time to waste, it is now or never.
I got my private pilot license in June 2009 and since then, I have flown several cross country flights on a Cessna 172 just taking friends along. I have tried to focus on my IFR training, but I have no road map. I don't know how much is it going to cost me at a local FBO, what exactly do I need to study first, a Syllabus, or something. Besides that, I can't find any schools with a MultiEngine airplane closeby (either KRYY or KPUJ) so I need to expand my search.
Basically I have been looking at three potential schools: Falcon Aviation Academy, American Flyers and ATP.  What I need is all my ratings including ME, financing, and advise from other pilots.
All 3 of them look pretty good and apparently they have a good reputation overall, however, American Flyers do not have a multiengine airplane at their PDK location so I have to discard that one.. that is sad, because their programs look really appealing and I was seriously considering this one.
Falcon Aviation.. I contacted them and told them I was visiting their school at PDK, we set a time and nobody showed up; my first e-mails were answered rapidly but after a while, when I had more questions, they look kinda annoyed.. I guess that leaves me with one more choice.
You really can't tell if ATP is a good or a bad school by reading all the aviation forums on the web. You will read a ton of bad reviews and a ton of good reviews. My experience on the phone was good. When I visited the school at PDK, the instructor exceeded my expectations. He was working and stopped what he was doing to take care of me.  He gave me a complete tour, he showed me the PA44, and let me in. He showed me the simulator and even bothered to turn it on so I can see how it really looks like, answered all my questions. It was great.
Still I understand why people give it a lot of thought, It is not cheap. My program will cost me US$54,995 plus i must buy an Ipad 2 (US$770), I need to purchase Apps for the school, plus I need to come up with more money for the DPE on each check ride (I believe there are 7 or 8).
I had the opportunity of meeting a Colombian pilot for ASA, he went to ATP at age 38 and he did the Fast 90 days Program. He told me three things that took any doubts away.
First: ATP will charge you a fixed amount of money and It guarantees that you will get a certain amount of time and those ratings. If you go to a regular flight school, you never know how much you are going to end up paying for training.
Second: ATP has a road map to accomplish your goal. It will be a lot, a LOT of self study, but they will tell you WHAT to study and WHEN.
Three: Be prepared. The first two or three years after graduation life will be TENAZ (really tough) you need to be very careful on your financial planning but you will survive.
Those three thing plus one of my motto: I rather try and fail than never try and wonder what if are the ones that pushed me to make the call and schedule my first day of class.
On December 28th I will start my 10 month self paced program at ATP (http://www.allatps.com) at the PDK location. I am doing the self paced because I can't afford to not to work. I will be documenting my progress throughout this journey to help other future pilots make a decision.
Three days after scheduling, I received a package with some books and e-books for my Ipad. I also got my IFR course on my Ipad and it is really cool. Ont he package, there was also a welcome letter from ATP's VP and recommending that I study the Seminole Manuals, and be ready for my IFR written.
The IFR course is very complete, I am in the second lesson. Basically on each lesson I have to watch a video, then read a chapter from the Instrument Pilot Handbook and then answer a quiz. It is really motivating and I am working on that right now.
Also, every day I review the seminole videos from the ATP page, the  Manuals, and the Flash courses about this airplane. I am now becoming more familiar with it.  And getting more excited to start.