I was working on my Private Pilot license in the mid-90's. I quit just around 40 hours with my only remaining required training maneuver being a Night cross country.

I quit for pretty much the reasons you give: while I could have afforded to finish my license, I realized owning my own airplane would have been prohibitive. Sure, I could get a Cessna 152 for around $20k at the time, but then hangar fees, maintenance, insurance, etc. were far more than I could afford.

There's a reason the average small plane owners at my airport drove Toyota rustbuckets with the bumper sticker "My other car is an airplane."