I have a very close friend who tried to do this, and he ended up spending about the same amount of money because he had to spend a long longer in school after he transferred because most of the best universities don’t accept transfer credit from community colleges, either flat out, or they just require different classes. For example, my university requires 48 credit hours above the 300 level, which is a lot of clases, and community colleges by definition do not offer classes above the 300 level.
The student would be best advised to apply to the best schools he believes he can get into, as well as midlevel and “safe” schools, apply for financial aid, and wait until receiving financial aid packages from all schools before making any decisions. A truly exceptional student will be recruited with a very attractive package, even during this economy.
If in the end money concerns outweighed I would highly suggest an in-state public university with an honors program to a community college for the reasons outlined above, as well as to give the student a lot more academic options. It’s hard to shoot for the stars when everyone around you is kicking dirt. In a state university honors program, he would be exposed to a lot more opportunities than at a community college.