Bill,
You've got some good advice there. Just one thing no-one's answered yet for you...you can indeed get a Career Development Loan, up to £8000 interest free for two years, and it can be extended for up to another 17 months. The school you're training with needs to have the forms (be an official training provider or whatever term they give it), and you need to be aiming for a CPL...which you are. It's worth getting this, even if you have the cash upfront you can keep the £8000 in the bank and get the interest; every little helps.
Also, if you think you're going to instruct you'll be self-employed, which means you can register for VAT now, and claim it back on all your helicopter training. It helps if either the school you're with, or your accountant, knows about this, as lots of people will tell you it can't be done...do a search on here for recent threads on the subject. But you can do it, the paperwork is easy, it's quite legal, and it will save you 17 and a half% on all your training in the UK!!!!!!
I can't think of anything else to add, except GOOD LUCK...unfortunately unless things change in the helo world you're going to need lots of it.