Easier? No. You have to be much more careful with your exposure and they don't autofocus like a prosumer HD camera will. They can only shoot for 12 minutes at a time (NBD really), and they have a few other quirks as mentioned in the other answer.
Cheaper? Depends. There are some cheap HD camcorders out there for about a grand that aren't half bad, a bunch of really good prosumer ones in the$2,000 to $7,000 range, and then the real deal that starts at $17,000 and goes way up from there.
If you're already a still photographer with a lot of good Canon lenses then the new 7D is only $1700 or the T2i is only $900. The problem where this still ends up with a "depends" answer is that if you're serious about using one of these DSLRs for video you'll need a lot of lenses and accessories to make them work well. Pulling focus is a PITA so you'll need a monitor or viewfinder, then you'll realize that the lens barrel has a 90 degree throw from macro to infinity and is way too touchy to get good focus pulls, so you'll need a follow focus attachment and lens gears for $300 (ultra cheap) to $3,000 industry standard. You'll then need 15mm rails to mount that follow focus and then you'll be attaching so many parts that the camera quickly gets swallowed up in a sea of expensive gear. Sure you can shoot without a lot of the add ons, but if you're serious and will be shooting a lot, the add ons will make life a lot easier and help you get a better finished product. My personal DSLR setup clocks in around $10,000 which is nothing compared to a Arri or even a Red.
But here's the thing...they can shoot some absolutely stunning visuals on a par with cameras that cost ten times as much like the Red or even 35mm film cameras.
DPs that are used to working with the big guns generally don't like using them because of the limitations while up and coming DPs love that they can achieve similar looks to 35mm film for a small fraction of the cost.