Is Dungeons and Dragons behind a $12,000 paywall??

And if so, why is it still so ubiquitous? I keep toying with the idea of getting back into Dungeons and Dragons, and maybe even playing it online, but the "official" experience of owning all the adventure books, getting everyone playing a DnDBeyond lifetime subscription, and subscribing to all of the patreon content all feels like it would be at least a $12,000 up front buy in. Is my impression correct? I'm sure there are ways to cheapen it up, but what’s the point if I’m not getting the most "elite", or "executive experience" in my games?

Fun fact: I'm really old, so I may be Grandpa Simpsoning this thing....I'm sure back in my younger days we spent WAY more than $12,000 of Age of Explorations money to go on a real adventure where we would conquor the Americas ....but it never felt that way.