Very true. Tell the new guy he's going to spend $6-10K getting his license, THEN he'll have to pay well upwards of $100 per hour to rent a 1970s vintage plane that will get him places a little faster than driving for several times the cost, and he can't fly in anything but good weather unless he doubles his investment. Or he can buy an old plane and spend thousands per year keeping it flying and keeping it in a hangar. It's no wonder that experimentals are the only segment of the market that are really doing well. But, most new pilots are not keen on homebuilts... and for valid reasons.
I think at least some of it is lagging outreach & education. Most non-pilots I talk to are unaware that they can just show up at the local airport and hang out, watch the planes and ask questions. The ones that do show up to let their kids watch the planes often act like they expect to be chased off by the cops. My non-flying friends are very surprised to hear that I can drive to the airport, go through the gate, pull my own plane out of the hangar, take off, fly somewhere (with a - gasp - FULL BOTTLE OF LIQUID if I want to), land, and not have to get permission, pay a fee, fill out paperwork in advance, file a flight plan or even talk to ATC. They're used to watching every move and word around the the TSA/Big Brother airport experience and are surprised to learn that it's not like that if you are not self loading cargo in a passenger terminal. It's hard to get people interested in something that they view as unapproachable.