I grew up in the Dallas area and your cost of living if compared to the burbs in Chicago should drop about 20-30% at a minimum and probably about 40% if you previously were living in the city compared to the Plano area.
As for the local colleges there's plenty of community colleges if you're doing pre-requisite coursework or UTDallas there in the area which is easy to access from the Plano area.
If you have a family then Plano would be a great place to live otherwise you may consider living in the North Dallas area where there's a lot more young folks and single folks in the 20s to 30s.
Hope that helps.
As for the local colleges there's plenty of community colleges if you're doing pre-requisite coursework or UTDallas there in the area which is easy to access from the Plano area.
If you have a family then Plano would be a great place to live otherwise you may consider living in the North Dallas area where there's a lot more young folks and single folks in the 20s to 30s.
Hope that helps.