I was in a similar situation - up north (even further north than you), young family, and I started training in the hope of eventually getting a flying job comutable from home. I accepted the fact that the first few years might be spent away at a base down south.
(f)ATPL for 6 years now and not a sniff of a job anywhere. At least not one I could afford to take!....others will be happy to work in ops/admin for 12 months for an airline on minimum wage just to get an opportunity (eg jet2 pilot apprentice, and thomsons latest 'internal' recruitment) - but if you've got a house and kids that's not an option.
A surprise medical issue recently made my decision to pack it all in. (CAA withdrew my medical out of the blue for 6 months- now issued with a restricted medical), that coupled with a large number of redundancies at airlines such as FlyBe highlight just how insecure any flying job would be.
If you're not prepared to move (and I mean move country!), and you're not prepared to work on minimum wage for a year or two, and you're not prepared for redundancy and having to move to the Far East, then you should think twice!
Don't convince yourself that you've got something different to offer and the airlines will see your potential because you're "different"....you'll just be another cpl in a line of thousands of unemployed cpls...except you'll be restricted by location and £££, whereas hundreds are not.
If your wife knew the reality I bet she wouldn't be as supportive.
And I bet she could find something better to do with that 80k you're thinking of spending...