I'm halfway down the route you are about to embark upon, although I have kept my "boring banking job" in order to finance it. Actually, its not that boring...but it's ultimately on the ground and not in the air ;-)
Good on you for doing your homework. Do as much as you can. The journey is not for the unprepared!
There are lot's of different ways to get from one point to the next within the licensing framework, and it is there where this forum is a goldmine.
PM if I can be of any help at all.