GA or Cadetships will get you there. The cons of GA is that you must be motivated, prepared for hard work and compromise to get work and get hours quickly and exist on minimum wage. It will however help you to develop independence and operating without supervision in sometimes trying circumstances, making decisions without guidance and dealing with problems on your own. GA will NOT generally be cheaper than a cadetship, you still have to get your licence and ratings and then you will forgo regular income, move around at your own expense, possibly have to maintain your own currency, pay for your own endorsements etc etc...
Cadetships can be pricey but you must read the fine print, is there a forgiven amount for time in service, ie it may say $150k, but up to $50k may be forgiven if you remain with said operator for 7 years and so on. Some include accommodation and meals. Some guarantee an airline job on completion of training, others two year experience only and some only guarantee an interview with assisted industry placement.
Cadetships that guarantee a spot in the airline you could be holding a command in 5 years and at end of tenure move on to a major airline as an FO being in a better financial position than possibly the GA counterpart.
Once you are in the airline game, where you started matters very little, fly under managements radar, operate by the book and don't appear on ATSB shorts and you will progress no matter what background.