If you see your fortune lies in the jet environment, then pay as well. Its a fairly easy calculation to see the return of investment. If you are not willing to pay, then there's plenty of guys who will.
Perhaps you could have made a similar step 5 years ago, but never thought your career would end up being like this. So here you are, with all your hours which mean nothing anymore as soon as they go over 1500. Its sad, but you missed the boat a couple years back to transition and only improve the situation. Now you'll have to take a step back, eat some dirt to join the fast track.
But I see your problem and there's no way to end up better at this stage then any boy or girl who just started flying the props 3 years ago.
Good luck.