60 hours in your late 30’s doesn’t sound like you “really want it.” It the same when joining the defence force. They want you to come to them on the brink of bankruptcy having worked 3 jobs at the same time so scrimp and save every spare dollar for flying lessons.
Your story sounds more like you got a degree or two, didn’t like it and then just moved on. What’s stopping you starting and have them spending a lot of cash on you and you just change your mind and move on?
Try getting a job at that age with Airservices as an ATC too... you won’t be able to, unless you meet very specific requirements around eduction which which are not made to look age related.