If you only have contact with your tutor via email, telephone then what's so different to just absorbing all the threads on here? Or even looking at videos on youtube!
I am not, of course, suggesting that you rock up and start doing everyone's nails just from what you read here, and certainly not without a qualification but this is your money; we're currently in uncertain economic times and you can only spend it once. Doesn't it make more sense to use it wisely and invest in the best you can from the start? I only say this because we've heard so many times of people who ask for cheaper courses and then have to go on to spend even more money (which could've gone of products/advertising - or even a nice holiday
) to get the education that they really wanted in the first place.
A good tutor will be able to recognise what you do well/need to work on and will support you while you actually work. So, my advice to you is to research as much as you can. Look at every option available to you and then you can make an informed choice.