You can go off and just buy the kit if you want to die I guess...
I ended up taking a class on airframe construction from a licensed A&P and probably spent several hundred hours doing research at this point.
Engines can be anywhere from a 10k run-out old Lycoming or a $40k+ brand new IO-540 in a crate.
On the issue of "spoiled kids" there are a bunch of schools in the US that do a similar build project (typically an RV-14 LSA). It's not uncommon for more vocationally oriented high schools.
Experimental/amateur-built aircraft are the fastest growing segment of aviation, precisely because it represents a fairly affordable avenue for getting into flying. The prices of certified aircraft have skyrocketed way past what any normal, even reasonably affluent, person can justify.
Performance-wise, you can get better performing airplanes, with better instrumentation, for far less money as experimentals. This is because they do not have to pass any FAA certifications, so there's much more innovation taking place in the EAB market.
Of course, it's also dependent on the builder and designer doing a good job, so especially second-hand markets can be iffy since all the due diligence for figuring out what you're buying is on you.