There really won't be much of a difference between flight schools, I don't think. What it will come down to is, which one is convenient for you? Which of them will be most cost-effective?
Whatever you do, once you've decided to go for your pilot's license, go for it. Don't do what I did, which is to go take a lesson every other week. If you're not flying at least once or twice a week, regularly, then you just throw away 3/4 of your money, because if you come back to flying after two weeks, it takes you 45 minutes to relearn everything you've forgotten.
My first flying school was a large school with a solid reputation, but they didn't have "an" instructor, they had at least six. As a result, I flew with whatever instructor was available, and there was no-one monitoring my progress. So after I'd soloed, and I was going up, day after day, and just doing circuits ("take-offs and landings"), no one was there to say "Ok, Will, time to move on to the next step." A dedicated instructor who will monitor your progress is essential, IMO.
Don't choose an instructor who will just let you go up and bore holes through the air. When I was trying to get my instrument rating, a friend of mine (who had an instrument and commercial rating) offered to teach me for free. Those "free" lessons probably cost me at least $2000, because I never did get my instrument rating. I could fly straight and level and make instrument approaches, but I couldn't handle (or at least wasn't comfortable with) the little things that he hadn't thought to teach me (file an instrument flight plan, copy a new clearance in the air, monitor the radio, recognise developing emergencies, etc.)
Study the requirements for the certificate and make sure you have a plan to get there. Be prepared to spend lots of time on the ground with your instructor discussing your progress; what you've done and what you want/need to do next. If he wants to get paid for this, pay him. It's money well-spent.
There's lots of stuff you can do to practice that won't cost you a cent, although it does take self-discipline. Once you know how to plot a flight and file a flight plan, it costs you nothing to do it. Pick a destination you'd like to fly to, check the weather, and do all the preparation you normally would; set aside an hour in the evening two or three times a week and do this at home; pretend you've got an early morning flight at 3 a.m.
Make sure that at the end of each lesson, you're one step closer to the flight test. For example, don't get hung up (like I did) on doing ten, fifteen, twenty hours practising take-offs and landings. You practise take-offs every time you take off, and landings every time you land. Do a short cross-country, and instead of simply landing at your destination, do a couple of touch-and-goes. (If you don't know what those are, you'll find out, trust me <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )
I hope this helps. Don't get hung up on finding the "right" flight school. Try one that's convenient. If you don't like it, or the instructor's an [censored], say "thanks" and try another one.
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"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled."
-Plutarch