I am in the exact same boat. I am in the DFW area and planned to go to Mexico (actaully have surgery sceduled with Dr. Kuri in Jan) but my husband does not want me to do that so I am looking around town. I tried AIGB (Dr. Benevides) and they are $15k also. I did find out that Dr. Wade Barker is offering a holiday special right now for $9,500. I don't know much about him re the lapband (they say he has done a lot of them but I am trying to get more informaiton) but am going for a consult in a week or so. Thats the best price I could find right now and its just a bit more than Mexico once you add in the flight.
Let me know if you hear anything about him or any other "deals".