If price is an issue, consider the freeware version: [1]. It disallows commercial use, and lacks recent features, but it should be great for a hobbyist. If you need more than this feature set, $1199 is a bargain for what you get with IDA Pro, as others have mentioned.
Given the maturity of the tool, the breadth of functionality, plugins, scriptability, etc. these are petty money for what IDA Pro has to offer to a professional that has to do Reverse Engineering for a living.
I do agree that for a tool used for a hobby it is expensive, but for hobbyists there are other, simpler tools that could be used.