hi sunspotter, well I live in dubai at the moment and I am moving to Qatar soon, but to answer your question ... the amount of money you mentioned all depends on wether accomodation is being offered with the package or not, if accomodation is offered then it is a damn good deal , if not...its still a good deal considering you have to pay an arm and a leg for a decent accomodation here.(accomodation is anywhere from 100,000- 200,000/yr for a 3 bdrm villa)
however, to get some ideas on living cost and rental cost in dubai you could do some research on the net and dubai is like any place in the western world it has tons of publications , other than that you will have the time of your life in dubai, it is a great place to live, raise family and have fun if you have the money for all that...lol....
hope i helped.