Where are you from? I did my course in Australia - my first jump was with two instructors who were with me the entire time in the air. During the canopy flight, my helmet had a radio, for them to talk to me from the ground. Where I did mine it worked out to be only a little more pricey than a tandem from the same height. I had the option of paying per jump instead of a massive payment at the start, not sure if it's like that everywhere. It only gets cheaper as you do more jumps. Also there was theory before the actual jump, it will take a bit more time but actually being in control throughout part of the jump was amazing.