Andrew,
Yes, sticker shock indeed, when it comes to the hobbyist buying cadcam software.
I guess the only reason that people will go to the trouble to develop good cadcam software, is that there is a market that will pay the price being asked.
Because this is serious business, what you have to do is figure out a way to:
1: win a lottery to buy whatever
or
2: plan to make a few bucks from your machine, using the software that you will purchase. Or, if you can, make a few bucks first, doing things the hard way for a while.
I'm just trying to soften you up to look at OneCNC mill express
It costs around the $1500 mark, but, if you're tired of making gcode
already, then it could be of interest. It doesn't cost you anything to get the boys at OneCNC to give you an online demonstration. Even if you don't buy, it should really give you a better feel for what a good software package really does for you. From there, then you can start to search intelligently for you will know a little bit more about what is easy to learn, and what isn't.