Heh, if only it were that simple... ^^; I'll grow old before I manage to get into a national ATS academy, and private ATC training costs over 50,000 USD. However, if I could get into some other aviation-related occupation (one that I still like a lot), that would give me a little edge for the future, especially considering that a Dispatcher course doesn't cost more than 7000€ and would allow me to prepare for the way more expensive one.
Ihadadream, care to share more about distance learning? I admit that I'm still a bit skeptical about e-learning, but it would help me to save quite a lot if it is worth it.