It does not have to be prohibitively expensive.
You can brew on your kitchen stovetop, which will work fine for small batches.
If your stove is inadequate for 5gal batches (most are), you can add a
bucket heater to make up for that. You won't have to modify your kettle, and you won't need a controller. When the bucket heater has done its part, just unplug it. You'll only need it to ramp up to your mash temp, and later to ramp up to a boil. Your stove will be able to maintain a boil.
To maintain mash temps, put the lid on and put insulation over your kettle. You'll be able to maintain temp within one degree. Some people make reflectix covers, others use blankets or an old sleeping bag. There's no
need for RIMS heaters, pumps, controllers, etc.
Plenty of people, including myself, routinely hit and exceed recipe targets without sparging at all. You don't
need the recirculation pump and other related hardware (and hassles) that seem to come with all of the turnkey systems.
If you want to get off your stovetop, you could install
heating element(s) in your kettle. You could put in a single 5500W 240V element, and assemble a
StillDragon controller kit to adjust the heat output. If you don't have the appropriate power outlet already in place, having it installed will be your biggest expense.
Or you could install two smaller 120V heat elements, and plug each into separate 120V circuits that already exist in your home. Plug in both to ramp up to temp, use only one to maintain a boil. A controller is not required. If you want to add one later, you can. If you don't feel comfortable modifying your kettle, use two
HotRods that mount to the rim.
There are several ways to get where you want to go, and there is no
need to spend lots of money to get there.