The other important factor is that it's much better to pay what it takes to get good instruction from someone who really knows what they're doing, than to do an IMC at the lowest possible cost.
I think I learnt lots more from my first renewal (4 hours in the air and 4 in a simulator......
) than from the initial rushed-but-cheap course. (My excuse for all the hours is that I moved to France just after getting the rating, and can't fly IMC here. Plus I was cr@p.... )