Whilst it's admirable that you want to save up to pay for everything - gaps of 3 years are only going to make things harder. By all means save up to get your PPL, hour building and ATPL exams. But don't think ATPL's will be easy - especially if you are working full time. I timed out on my first set and basically gave up work for 3 months to get them done. If you do your ME course, then wait 3 years to start your IR, you'll end up having to do it all again anyway. Best to group everything together as much as possible - use the MEP training as a warm-up for MEIR (You don't need to pass the MEP test, only the IR test!) I would recommend saving to get hour building and ATPLs done, then borrow the last £20k for CPL/IR. You'll get into the game 3 years earlier and have a career 3 years longer. By the time you retire, those final 3 years salary will have paid for your second home in Spain. Put it on a 0% card, it's not like you'd have to mortgage the house. You have 18 months from your first ATPL exam to finish them, then 3 years from the last exam to get both CPL and IR.