I did my training through the CTC wings scheme. It is certainly worth applying to them and any other airline mentored schemes before you start considering going it alone.
In terms of job prospects for low hour pilots it is currently probably as good as it gets - certainly as good as it has been for many years. How long it will stay this way no one can really know.
As for your attitude toward risk you're very sensible to look to limit your exposure to borrowing large sums of cash. However, and this may be a bit blunt, you have little choice in the matter. You are going to have to borrow something, probably quite a lot, to finance your training. When you borrow the cash you have no guarantee that you will get through your training and have even less guarantee you will find a job with an airline at the end.
I'm not trying to dissuade you from going for it, it's a great job and well worth all the effort to get there. But the least risk strategy schemes, eg CTC and the like still require you to gamble a lot of cash with no promises of employment.
Good Luck!