This is an airport right by me. Look under the classes tab--they have a pretty good breakdown of the costs (if I win the lottery today, getting my helicopter add-on is high up on my list):
Medford, New Jersey Helicopter Flight Services - Helicopter Flight Training, Helicopter Sight Seeing Tours, Aerial Photography
"They're" saying that hiring, at least for the airlines, is going to surge in the next few years. There's "supposed" to be a huge shortage of pilots coming up--military pilots are staying in the military (they're making more) and less people are going for the licenses because of the costs. I could see it being somewhat similar for helicopters, but the competition for jobs tends to be higher since there are less helicopter jobs.
If demand for pilots goes up, the pay's going to have to go up. If that happens, it'll make the training more worth it; the first few years in both helicopter and plane jobs are rough.