Sticks have been coming down in price. TE's used to be 150 and now they are 100 ish. That doesn't help with a PS2 though unless you plan on dual-modding it.
You can go on Shoryuken.com forums and check the tech section for a plethora of stick building guides/walkthrough/photo logs.
Playing on a stick can be a big up to your game. If, of course, that's what you are after. :p