A good way forward if you can manage it would be
Get an education to degree level
Get life skills
Get employable skills outside aviation
Avoid paying top dollar for your flight training
Avoid the LCCs like the plague if you can
I was lucky to career change and remain in my previous career part time as well as flying big shiny jets (my previous career pays much better than the Locos)
Having a degree and life/work skills outside aviation keeps you out of the trap of been totally dependent on the industry
Doing both part time could help not become too downhearted with either, ironically you could find you would tend to miss the one your not doing.
As with the other fantastic advice on this thread my advice would definetely be:
Get a degree get life skills first have something else. Train as economically as you can, avoid the larger debt
I would offer second advice of:
Avoid paying top whack at a FTO and going straight into the RHS of a brand spanking new jet with no back up plan a relatively low wage and big training debt. Working a mad lifestyle ruining roster for a company that doesnt actually look after you or care for you
The sensible person would not clamour for this situation. And this is exactly the situation that many are falling into. Be smart. Dont get sucked into the hype or the marketing spiel,
Good luck - if you take the right approach it can still be the best job in the world, it seems you are doing the right research from the outset and there is some genuine and excellent advice on this thread