Hi there,
I must agree with you. Wait for an airline to hire you and they should pay to get you current.
I had a situation just recently where I landed a DC8 job in the UAE (with a Job contract in hand) but was required to get current on a DC8. They recommended I go through a Sim operator in Miami. I started making arrangements and very fortunately did not pay for it or for airline tickets from Africa and accommodation because the prospective the employer just stopped communicating. To this day, despite phone calls and emails, I do not know what happened.
So even with a contract in hand there are no guarantees and certainly if you spent the money on training, who would you sue in the UAE or in China to get it back?