deedledeedle,
I understand where you come from, same story here but I live in the USA and I got my licences already (got them back in 96 ). I haven't flown in years and have been working as a carpenter ever since. I'm slowly working on getting current again and get the cfi ticket (not much of a financial investment) but i'm not doing this in hope that down the line i'll work somewhere as an airline pilot. It's a young man's game unfortunately. Of course you'll always hear the success story of an older career changer here and there but those are the exceptions. Flight School are in business to make money out of you, nothing more. They will tell you what you want to hear. For them today is always a great time to start. If you have the funds to do it without debt, I would still think twice before pulling the trigger. You probably worked hard for what you have and the odds are against you.