While I agree the pay scale for a CCNA is a bit steep, what I find more out of wack is the average time to acquire certification. Having been a SysAdmin for over ten years, it still took me four months of study and lab work to obtain my CCNA. This is between balancing work, family, and life. Granted, if you had none of these than maybe the timeline is realistic, but doubtful for the average Joe.
Also it is very doubtful if a person with no experience and just a CCNP cert in their hand will be hired at 90k /yr. and turned loose in someones Net Ops center. Not going to happen.
My experience says these certs are obtained through growth and responsibly in their IT career, not the starting point of one.
Could be I'm old school though.