I'd personally go for the 'sponsorship'. If law isn't really what you want to go into, then I can't see much point in doing it.
I was in the same position as you and cancelled my deferred entry to university to go into aviation.
As for whether there will be jobs, it's likely that there will be - as lots of those in the know with regards to economics have said. If you put it on a timescale, you'll see that the application for flight school (you mention CTC's scheme) will take you at least a month, probably more if you want plenty of time to prepare for the assessments. After which, the next available course will be no earlier than March, but most probably April or May 09. Add two years to that for training + the inevitable delays during training, and you're out in the summer of 2011...
Of course, things could go from bad to worse, but from what even the most negative of prophets have said on here, it is predicted that things will pick up towards 2011 / 2012 and CTC are still placing their cadets, albeit slowly.
Yes university is probably 3 years of fun, but it's also 3 years of cost towards an industry you don't want to be in. I never really understood the part of going to university if you want a career in aviation. When people argue that you should go to university, phrases like "amazing experience", "life experience" and "best experience of your life" come up. However, you can gain life experience with work and other pursuits (I feel more so than uni*), you can travel around Europe and the world and will have done something far more different to those that followed the crowd!
*I dumped uni, have worked in 2 industries so far, learnt a lot about both, worked with 14 year olds to 75 year olds, earnt lots of money, gone on experiences I wouldn't have had before, met hundreds of different people, worked towards aviation, did a distance learning diploma, been able to get work experience whilst socialising at the same time and to top it all, had the social life with those mates that went to uni!
Everybody is different - what works for one may not work for another and nobody's suggestion on here is by any means definitive.
Good luck!
Edited to add I don't want to sound like what I said is naive - it'll be tough for years to come, very tough but if you work hard, get into a reliable FTO that has a good reputation and are sensible with timing, you will have done everything in your power to ensure success. Is there ever a right time?