I know someone here that sold a used Cessna 150 for about $16k. Yes, you can spend hundreds of thousands of dollar of an airplane, but not all airplanes are that expensive. I have known a few people that have bought a small, economical airplane and hired an instructor to teach them to fly it. It depends on how you want to do it. I would recommend the rental route though, especially if you don't know much about airplanes and their ownership.