Future Atco
This might sound a little pompous, but bear with me.
Problem1 You live miles from anywhere
Solution. I am assuming that you aren't that old, married etc, have you thought of re-locating nearer to an airport? Don't get me wrong, I only moved away from my parents house the year before I got married at the ripe old age of 28, but then I was also happyish with my lot at the time. At age 18 I spent some time travelling around the country with my job and longed to be at home, so it isn't everyones cup of tea granted, but balance that against your overwhelming desire to work in aviation.
Problem2 No airport jobs near where you live
You don't have to work for an airline or at an international airport to work in aviation. Have you thought about working in ops in general aviation. Not only are you working at the grass roots level of this industry, you might get a little flying thrown in as part of the package. OK so we all know that the wage isn't a lot to write home about in GA, but a great way of gaining experience, making freinds, maybe even getting your hands on a plane from time to time. Big bonus to this side of things is that you don't generally find flying clubs working a night shift, or starting at 4am!!! Again, it's a question of balancing wages, perceived lifestyle and life goals together.
And that is the ultimate choice. Life is full of regrets, I regret spending my money on booze and girls when I was 18 instead of scrimping a licence together. But then I think about it, and I enjoyed life at that age. I might be paying for it now, in a job that I can tolerate, but not love, and I too would love to be an airline pilot but can't afford it. But I look back, and I learnt life skills that allow me to earn a reasonable salary today, so maybe not all bad then. What you have to do is decide a few things. What path do want your life to go in? Even if you are 55, you can still steer your career path if you really want to. To what extent is money your motivating factor? I gave up chasing big money jobs long ago to enjoy a bit more of life rather than working all the hours god sends as I used to.
After 20 years in the workplace nearly, I am happy that I have a good lifestyle, earn the kind of money that enables me to have that lifestyle and am in a job that isn't too bad really. But then I learnt the hard way. Decide what you want from life, and then steer towards it. Once you know this, you can then decide on what sort of job you want, and then you can decide where to go and do it, and it will all fall into place.
Good luck