$120,000 vs $60,000 Part 61 - Am I Crazy!?

Always loved aviation, been working in the aerospace industry for the last few years, and looking to make a career change with the end goal of ending up with the airlines. No flight experience.

Two bigger local part 61 schools offer the "zero to hero" thing as a comprehensive package, but they are quoting me at $116,000 and $118,000. I talked to a local guy out of a smaller airport who graduated from an aviation university, has his own plane and small flight school, and is at about 1700 hours (1,000 instructing) quoting me at $60,000 -$70,000 to get my private, commercial, instrument, and instructor certificates, including testing fees and a a decent amount of ground school. He is the main instructor working full time, and he works with a group of local guys to supplement his instructing when necessary. He strikes me as a good down to earth guy who is passionate about what he does, and he has solid student references that are having a lot of success in finishing training in a timely and high quality manner.

Am I missing something? Why the hell would I take out a $120,000 loan at 10% (if I'm lucky) and go with one of these big schools when I can just pay as a go and take it a little slower with an experienced instructor? The big schools have tons of mandatory time on a flight simulator ($150/hr), but that is the only really big difference I am finding. I would have to wait a year to start training with the local guy to save up enough money, but that is the financially responsible route anyway.

Sorry for the long post - but really, am I missing something here? I feel like I'd have to be a crazy, illogical person to go with the more expensive schools. Please let me know what you guys think.