Hardly free
Taking 8000kg into orbit with an Atlas V or a Delta IV (or any LV) is fair enough - $100-300M - that sort of ballpark
However - to bring that BACK would require a large vehicle with a huge heatshield etc etc etc.....i.e. a Space Shuttle - and depending on how you do the maths, anything between $500M and $1500M per flight.
The one solid decision I see made with VSE is seperating people (which need to come back in the CEV ) and cargo ( which doesnt need to go up and will go up on Ares V )
Doug