HI 15k paid links ouch... man they must have a lot of money... some paid links are ok.. but better to get them for free. Tom
Paid directories, you are paying to get your site reviewed for quality before they accept you. That is how directories arent' penalized for that.
So what's the best paid web directories then? I think Google must be aware of this particular site as its been reported by many people including myself but they are probably good terms with Google because they spend about £2000 a week on Adsense alone.
IMO it sounds too risky, especially if you get that many links too quickly. You're basically waving a red flag that says "Come and de-index me!"