I agree with you, but I believe (in all domains) that you can obtain decent results with low budget.
A good bright white (cold) light
A stable stade for camera
A decent webcam (640x480 30fps, wich allows 480p broadcast)
A good and reliable broadband upload speed (no wifi or air, just a good old rj45 cable, you can use 50meters lenght maximum, cost around 30USd on eb*y)
A decent PC to deal with a good bitrate (you can increase the video bitrate and decrease the sound bitrate or put it in mono....Since the sound capture devices are often not so great, it will be suficient)
If possible, an external program to send the video to the streaming website (it can increase the quality A LOT)
With that simple setup (I just bought the 30usd webcam) you can obtain really good results.
I also saw some good solitaire videos (Lindyhoper) on the dedicated section, where even with a low budget, creativity and ideas gave really impressive results :
http://www.miniaturefootball.com/for...ad.php?t=19731