I'm glad the ship got turned the right direction here... the last several posts are very informative and real - touching on some key points.
This from Tequila...
"... for the most part it seems to me that everyone, including the reliable objective assessment sources, sort of starts at the top level as a goal and works their way down as time goes along. I guess this is a completely natural progression since one can’t predict what puberty, work ethic, injuries, etc. might produce but it’s a confusing and different process for every situation at best. ... "
This point alone is eligible for lengthy discussion. What coach or instructor is going to tell you there is no way your kid can develop into a better player? What coach or instructor really knows just how much better for the large mass of young players who haven't fully developed physically or fully explored maximizing their potential skill sets? If a kid shows passion and potential, shouldn't a parent want to allow him to pursue that in the best way possible (which, BTW, isn't necessarily spending a boatload of money)? Shouldn't a coach or instructor encourage that path? Many see this as exploitation. I know of a few entities involved where that has probably become largely accurate. But I also know a heck of a lot of baseball people who are driven primarily by their passion to help others pursue that same passion. Yes, many have to figure out a way to eek out some money to warrant the time spent. Yes, many are business savvy and, by nature, look to make a profitable model out of their passion. But, by and large, baseball people are good people driven by their passion for the game and PG Staff is certainly at the top of that list. He clearly didn't deserve the BS he got here in recent years.
As a HS coach in an area where a fair amount of kids go on to play in college, I see, first hand, the full spectrum. The key, IMO, is not to get too crazy too early and not to be stubborn and blind to the signs and hang on too late. The game will tell you where you belong, what you need to do to improve your lot and, likely, what your limitations are going to be. For those that show particular promise, there are resources to explore where that promise might go. You can use resources that cost a lot of money or you can find resources that are more budget friendly. Both are out there if you are willing to find them. Most of our guys end up shooting at the right targets eventually. The excess spending is usually travel too young or they have it to spend, so why not. That's not to say that there isn't always one more event to consider 
.
Much of the extra spending is on regular instruction, which, IMO, has raised the overall level of play at most levels. Again, this can be found at full retail or some really good bargains of value are out there.
Another point made here that is often missed... the large majority of college baseball players play at schools in-state or neighboring. Many others have academic focus. With this in mind, the search and process can be greatly simplified and costs greatly reduced.
With my own son who played a full college career, we certainly leaned toward budget, doing a lot of local travel, a key PG event and Scout ball, which at the time was an unbelievable value. We made it a point to mix in other stuff on most travel tourneys and we had a lot of fun along the way. The PG event was certainly one of the bigger spends but very telling as to where he stacked up and very memorable as far as who he got to play against/hit against.