Michael,
Your best bet is to find a glider port near by. You can get a glider license at 16, and there's a good chance that you could work the line in exchange for lessons. Gliders are a lot cheaper then powered airplanes. The other way to save money is to do the sport pilot license. It'll let you take a passenger a little quicker and cheaper then the private. The soaring society of america shows three gliderports in North Carolina; Erwin, Louisburg, and Mocksville... Their website is
www.ssa.org. The EAA has a list of sport pilot instructors on their website at
http://www.sportpilot.org/instructors/index.html It looks like their are 4 registered sport pilot instructors in North Carolina. They are located in; Benson, Hickory, Sanford, and Stedman. The guy in Benson, NC could teach you in the worlds best trainer... the J3 Cub. I'm a little partial since I own and teach in a J3 Cub, but there is no denying that a pilot that learns in a cub will out fly a pilot that learns in a cessna.
Good Luck,
Ty