The 1500 hour thing will only last until airlines start cancelling flights due to lack of real pilots willing to work for $19K. But regardless, it's not hard to get 1500 hours...2 years after your CFI tickets should do it and I've seen it done in one year.

The next 4-5 years should involve significant hiring due to retirements but that could be damped by economic problems and/or high oil prices.