gc2750
That sounds like a very sensible plan, and no, you are not too old in your mid-thirties. WWW has perfectly summed up the way this industry works.
Guys - success in this game doesn't depend on how good you are or how much money you have. It really boils down to two things - timing and contacts.
This is a bad time to be starting commercial training. If you qualify when there are no jobs, you won't get a job. End of. You'll then have to tread water for two or three years waiting for the market to improve. Maintaining IR currency without flying commercially is cripplingly expensive - I'd say it's nigh-on impossible. Even if you do manage to stay current, you'll be competing with all the people who qualified after you and are fresh out of training. Qualify when the market is booming, and unless there's something seriously wrong with you, you'll find some sort of job with someone, somewhere.
Contacts are absolutely everything. Network like crazy. Contacts can get your CV to the top of the pile, can help you with interview advice, can help you with sim preparation. Remember that this industry is an incredibly small world; make friends and keep in touch with your old PPL instructor - in a few years time he or she might be an FO who 'knows someone'. Never, ever p!ss people off in this business, everyone has long memories.
Remember those points and you will be on the right track.