Here in Kansas, you are required to do an 8 hour course, including range exam. (Priced from $100 to $200, depending on your instructor. $150 is typical.) Then you pay $110 to the state and $40 to the sheriff in your county of residence (for fingerprinting and processing). Then if you are approved (from 45 to 90 days later), you pay $12 to the drivers license examiner's bureau for the permit. They give you a temporary license that looks like a cash register receipt and your license shows up in the mail a week later. Most people will have 3 or 4 months and a little over $300 invested by the time the license issues. The license is only good for 4 years, so that's about $75 a year for the first 4 years. Renewals are $100 (as $50 to the state and $50 to the sheriff) plus a late fee of $15 if you don't get it turned in on time. The renewal license printing fee is still $12. So, after the first 4 years, the annual cost works out to about $28 to $32 per year, depending on whether you apply for the renewal license on time. Here in Kansas, it ain't cheap to exercise your right to bear arms, either time-wise or money-wise.
As far as getting out of the 8 hour course, you are only exempt if you were retired from the service within the past 8 years at the time of your application.