[widebody911]

The employer's response was something like- "That's high, we can't even come close to that."

That's pretty much the end of the discussion right there, unless they have some other awesome perks upon which it's difficult to place a price tag.

I'm in a similar position right now. I'm doing a contract gig and they want to convert me to FTE; they asked me how much I wanted and I countered with "how much are you offering?" Going contract to FTE is almost always a loss in terms of pure dollars, but the benefits package is supposed to make up for it.