What school is the best and cheepest school to start my career of becoming a nurse?

I am currently in the same search. I have found that the cheapest way to become a nurse is to take an LPN course through a local community college. Day classes are typically 1 year, evening/weekend classes are usually 18 months. Either way they cost around $4,000 with books and insurance and everything. Upon graduation and passing your board exam you can get a job working in the field and most all employers will pay for your continuing education; which depending on if you go for your ASN ($15k) or BSN ($35k) can add up. The only draw back (if you can call it that) is that since there are no nursing schools with evening classes, you'll be working alot of night and weekend shifts, but hey, it could be worse. But the plus is, you are now trying to get into an LPN - RN class instead of regular nursing school and those are not near as crowded and almost never have a waiting list. Plus, you get credits for previous work/school knowledge so your time in the program is less than a traditional RN program...hope this helped.