Rote8 that sounds about right.
As you say you can do it for less. And you can get it down to 35k if you try. Starting in 2000 and finishing in early 2002 I managed to get MEP/IR/FI all done scraping 35k. Then did the MCC later.
500quid a month sounds about right for the loan repayments for an unsecured loan. If say you start on 18k a year as a TP FO you will clear about 1300 a month. Say 240 a month in rent so before you even start to live its down to 560 disposable. You will need to run a car because public transport doesn't work at O my god its early/late time of day. So call it 100 quid a month fuel and insurance. Down to £460.
Which you can survive on. And normally you will get flight pay on top of that and overnight expenses. So its more likely to be about 600 quid.
It just means for the first 2-3 years you can't afford to buy a house until you get your command.
Persoanlly I wouldn't get a loan for that amount. After you have your bits of paper your looking at 2-3k a year keeping them current. Then if you don't get a job within 6 months your looking at a FI rating or buying a type rating. Which will stick another 15k on for a TP or 25K for a jet. And unless you can continue with your job and pay the loan your knackard.
MJ