It's been ages since I visited Tsukuba, I have no idea about how expensive the place is but you can get there by bus from Tokyo station of train starting from Akihabara - the tsukuba express.
fare on both transpo is almost the same and it takes about an hour ++ .
One thing I noticed about the place when i was there, moving around from one place to another requires bicycle or car. there are not much public buses much more train there. Very provincial but it is a very refreshing place away from all the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.