Is CGI puppetry less expensive then the real thing?

[mupcollector1]

Don't get me wrong, I love puppetry and the real hand craft of the art. But in times of the economic and even Hollywood budgets, I'm sort of calculating a bunch of stuff in my head in terms of what would work today. From what I've heard, puppet TV shows are very hard to produce because they are very expensive. How ever in a CGI savy Hollywood. Would motion capture CGI puppetry be less expensive? I kind of have an idea of it being thousands but comparing that to actual puppet budget, is it possible to be a budget money savor? Just curious.

Anyone know what the budget was for The Muppet Show or Muppets Tonight?