[Edit] Looks like Nicholas got it well ahead of me... [/Edit]
OK I see lots of different stuff flying around, so I'll try to put it all to rest.
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...nt.aspx?id=460
Teams outside of MI pay $5000 for 1 regional and 1 KoP
Teams in MI pay $5000 for
2 districts and 1 KoP
Each additional regional is $4000
A 3rd MI district is $500 (I'm assuming you can only attend 3?)
MI State is $4000 (for MI teams only)
The World Championship is $5000
So with those numbers in front of me, the district system seems like it might be a good deal. But there are certainly a multitude of other factors to assess.