Lowry - I was in the same place you are about 3 or 4 years ago. Trust me when I (and people like Linkster & DDave) say that PR has very little importance.
I currently have a page that ranks #1 in Google for a mid-level term that has a PR0. And we've all seen pages that rank higher than pages that have a much higher PR.
PR is sorta like seeing your site on the top of a counter's "top sites" list - it make you feel important, but it doesn't really mean anything.
Trade traffic, not PR. Clicked links from similar sites will make you money - PR will just make you think your cock is bigger
(of course, this is also a "theory" but it's easier to sleep at night if you don't worry about little green bars)