Krallu
I've recently completed a distance learning course, and it was no problem at all. OK, so you're not necessarily in a classroom within touching distance of a teacher at all times, but it does mean that you can study at your own pace, and spend more time on things that you, not the rest of the class, might be finding tricky.
If you pick your school right, it won't be hard to get in touch with an instructor, and all JAR distance learning ATPL courses require 4 weeks in the classroom.
For the record, I studied with GTS, who were very good. Cheap, but not as cheap as free!
HTH
CC