I don't know any methods much better than Pimsleur for getting comfortable to speak at a reasonable survival level on a time "budget". The best part of Pimsleur is that you really remember what you learn and (most importantly) people can actually understand what you're saying. I've done a few of their courses, and the Mandarin one is one of the better ones. I think there's a store called "Pimsleur Marketplace" which sells used Pimsleur sets and will pay $100 for your old set when you're done with it.

The old US government Foreign Service Institute courses are similar and quite effective but I think the learning curve is harder and they tend to require more of a time investment than Pimsleur. They're available for free online though, and you don't need to wait for any CDs to ship or anything.