I would take everything I read on here with a pinch of salt, do not base your decision off of what someone said on Pprune. Though having said that, you often do get gems on here which are really useful.
Moving on, whilst we all want to get the best financial deal we can and we're not all totally blinded (for the most part) by flying, we do all aim to minimse the financial hit and aim for the best salary we can find. However as you have quickly realised, being a pilot is most certainly
not to be done with the hope of getting rich. Now there are various captains out there earning up to £140,000 a year, however that is the pinnacle of the career and won't be something you touch for a while.
To sum it up, if you're hoping to get rich quick ... move along. If you're willing to earn around the 40,000 - 70,000 range for a few years before you start to hit the big bucks then it may be worth considering if you really love flying (not for bragging rights alone I hope!
And by the way, loans aside, earning £40,000 and rising to around £70,000 + in the first few years of a job is quite high in comparison to the rest of the country, I wouldn't be turning my nose up at it anyway.