BJJ and especially GJJ is really popular, and has been for years now. This makes it a highly demanded product. This means that the (relatively) few instructors who are able to teach it will be able to charge whatever they want.
Say they charge $100 a month for classes. If you go once a week, you pay 25 a class. If you go twice a week it's 12.50 a class, etc, etc....
BJJ is something that will excite you and you will have good training partners all the time. Eager to train and learn new techniques. You will most definitely get your money's worth.
However, if you go traditional Jujutsu you may run into the following issues:
Point #1 No full contact training? If this is the case walk away. Anyone who "trains" in anything other than full contact is fooling themselves. It's Ok to hit bags, boards, and do kata, but if you are talking self defense,
fuhgettaboutit ! I train with a Kenpo guy and he is lightning fast, but in 10 years of training, he has never trained full contact. He owns me in light contact. My strikes are slow as molasses compared to his. But I strike hard and often and I know I can take a barrage of strikes and turn around and dish it out.
I was in my dojo for about 6 months and when I learned enough to stop hitting myself in the head
we trained fully padded, full contact. I have been training for about 2.5 years now and I am fully competent in self defense (see also run fast and squeal like a little girl...)! But that is a story for another time...
Point #2, who are you training with and what are they teaching you? You can usually tell what your getting into with BJJ (source information in magazines, tv, and the internet) With individual arts of Japanese styles, it is much harder to know what you're in for.
Now I am not saying that BJJ is the do all end all, but for most other arts I have studied (about) it is right up there at the top.
BJJ is definitely overpriced because the Gracies came up here to make money. If you want a piece of the pie, you have to pay the baker. Simple economics: The American Way. Nothing wrong with that.
However, you could check out the local judo clubs. They address most issues that I have talked about, and you can usually get all the practice you want for the price of a heavy weight gi.
As for the do all end all martial art style, if you find that, please let the rest of us know...
Luck,
SZ