Bond Aviation ran a sponsorship scheme a few months; it was highly competitive and I believe all the places have been taken up. From what I gather the aptitude testing was not dissimilar to that used by the military so there would not have been any guarantee that you’d have got through.
I am not aware of any other offshore companies taking on students;bond or no bond so that's not really an option until you've got at least a CPL (with ATPL theory) and even then, you'd probably need an IR.
I would also be wary of joining the military purely as a means to learn to fly; the recruiting sergeant may well see through that!
Yes, it’s expensive; the only advice I can give is start saving and start researching! I would also suggest that to get to CPL/IR with ATPL theory and a twin-rating in a helicopter would cost nearer three times the equivalent fixed wing in the UK/Ireland.
Cheers
Whirls