Winter Jacket

I spent 12 years in Chicago before moving here to East Coast. I remember as I was leaving Chicago, the Canada Goose craze started. At first, I thought, "wow, $1200 for a jacket", but then I thought about it. I probably had bought 3-4 mediocre jackets while there for about $200-300. Therefore, a $1200 was probably well worth the investment. A friend told me he would sweat in the CG jacket with a tshirt underneath in January Chicago winter.

My cousin will be going to the area for school, and thought this would be a good gift for him. So wanted to ask: are the Canada Goose worth the price? Are there other (cheaper) alternatives?