I don't think Crafting has ever been crazy expensive, even since ARR launch. Goldsmith was my first class to 50 (even before any DoW or DoM job), and at worst I broke even leveling it, even though I couldn't HQ for crap. Once I got the hang of how to HQ stuff, subsequent classes have been pure profit leveling; my latest craft, Clothcraft, I made over a million gil in the process of leveling it, selling the HQ equipment I crafted on the marketboards.

No, there's not a heavy price tag associated with leveling a craft. The bomb hits AFTER you've leveled a craft, and then need to meld materia into the gear. That's when you see all the sweet profit you got from leveling go up in smoke...

I suppose if you're determined to level a craft as fast as possible, then it may start to ramp up the cost of leveling. If you're patient, though, diversify the things you craft (rather than just stick to a single recipe and spam it) you should be able to sell your products for as much or more than you crafted them for. When leveling a craft, I craft at least one of every item in the Crafting Log. The ones that can be turned in for Leves, I turn in for Leves, but everything else I sell for profit. I don't spam any single Leve to level up faster. Even using this "slow and profitable" method, though, I can level a craft in less than a week, and I'm a moderately casual player.