A few points to ponder.
Firstly, the notion in this thread that students are queuing up to spend vast amounts learning to fly the R22 is misplaced. There are too many schools, too many instructors, too many R22s and too few students in the market to maintain viable margins. I speak as an R22 owner and instructor.
Secondly, the notion that we're all going to be making oodles of money in the airlines in ten years time is also highly dubious. The current airline case, that traffic will increase exponentially over the next 20 years as it has in the past 20, is clearly balderdash. The past two years have seen a significant decline in passenger traffic, which according to the airlines should have come back by now. Furthermore, airlines cannot go on forever paying no fuel tax, and that's really going to put the cat among the pigeons.
Thirdly, we're at the point where fewer people want to become airline captains anyway. They're no longer the popular heores of my youth - today they're more often the 'blundering pilot' of tabloid fame who carries the can when it all goes to rats. They get no respect, decreasing satisfaction, and very little money when compared with other professions - doctors, lawyers. If you want a model for the future of airlines, look at the once-proud British maritime industry... Indian captains and Filipino crews working for peanuts.
If you go into a line of business, you have to accept the rate for the job. It's no use holding out for more because you deserve respect - if there are ten guys able and lining up to do your job, the price will come down, simple as that.
To any student looking at a career in aviation, I have one piece of advice - go to law school, then buy a plane and hire some mug to drive it for you.