Many of the ebooks coming out from the 'big six' publishers are expensive, as much or more than the paperbacks. Part of that is release schedule, if the ebooks are coming out at the same time as the hardcover they don't want to set the price too low because they're worried about hardcover sales.
On the other hand there's a lot of other options! Check out
Smashwords for one, lots of excellent books and most folks are pricing them at a more reasonable level. Writers like
J.A. Konrath have argued for books to be priced at the lower end around $2.99 and many writers are following that advice. And, with many devices like Nook or Sony's, you can also check ebooks out of libraries too. Plus there's a lot of public domain classics that are available.
For me, I've really enjoyed reading — and writing — ebooks.