Hello Satamanster.
Setting up a GoFundMe or something similar is not the silliest idea I've every heard for paying for ones licenses. There are people who have successfully raised a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of dollars for their education, and if nothing else it cuts down the burden for any loan.
Do not let your age deter you. I have worked with and trained many pilots who got to the airlines in their late 30s and early 40s. The oldest gentleman I ever trained who had not previously been a pilot was in his late 50s. Like you he had a burning desire to be a pilot and wanted to fulfill his childhood dream. It's not that you become less desirable with age, quite the opposite: many airlines look for older pilots because they bring with them certain life experiences that youth simply does not and cannot have. Decision making, situational awareness, conflict resolution, and emergency management are often well developed in other industries that become an asset, not a hindrance, with age. One of the last students I trained in the sim before coming back to the line was a 42-year old ER nurse. While her flying was on par for her experience, she was light years ahead of everyone with her abilities to manage an emergency. I learned lots from watching her, so yeah - age isn't an issue.
Also, don't look to your friends as examples for what will happen with your career. Your friend is employable as a pilot right now. You are not. Not for at least 2 years. At that time, you could find yourself landing a job inside 2 months after your training, or like many of my contemporaries, you'll be looking for a job for up to 6 years because some douches flew airplanes into a buildings (or, like some of my airline students, because a disease went rampant through the world). There is no guaranteed job at the end of your studies. That is the risk you are taking with any education. But, if you're willing to move outside Portugal, then the job hunt becomes vastly easier.
Now, back to money. I paid for half my training out-of-pocket, and I paid for some with a bank loan. Looking back at the way interest rates were and how my career could have developed, I wish I had used a bank loan for all of it. I would have been in a seat much sooner, and while I don't regret any career decisions I made once I was employed, I do regret not getting to the stage where I could be employed quicker. But, interest rates for a personal loan were quite high when I took one out. I seem to remember 15% or so. The same bank now has backed off a little bit, but they're still hovering around 13% for an unsecured loan. A quick google search shows interest rates in Portugal are about the same - 10 - 13%. And remember that most banks have you begin paying that as soon as you've got the money in your hand, so that $800 savings will not be $800 for long. You have to be OK with that.
If you are, go for the loan. Even if it takes a while to get a job, you'll make that back and then some over a 10-20 year career.
If you cannot stomach that, then you'll have to go the modular route. By your estimation, it'll take longer, but so what. Maybe that means you weather the next downturn. You also don't know who you'll run into during that time that might give you a leg up for your first job.
So I suppose the advice I have is the same that any therapist gives their patients: what do you think, what can you stomach, and go with that?