Definately good advice. Get the well paid but possibly mind-numbing job whilst applying for every sponsorship going. Meanwhile, tuck away some cash for funding yourself if you don't get the sponsorship. And even if you do you may well need several thousand anyway as BA, Aer Lingus and Air Atlantique are the only airlines that give full sponsorships.
Have a look for my BIG sponsorship post I wrote about about a month ago - I was in your shoes two years ago.
Good Luck