You can make 35k/yr once you hit second year pay... you will be off reserve or very close at that time, unlike when I went through XJT.

IAH would be doable after training or within your first year... people are always swapping around bases, so you would be able to get it.

The bads: You will be away from home a lot until you get swapped to IAH, then you may be home a lot. You can pick up trips if you want to fly more (aggressive pickup), or you can sit back and just wait for them to call you (that's what I did). Also until you get to IAH you will have to have a crashpad in whatever base you're at (it's cheaper than hotels while on reserve), and that will run around $200/mo.

IAH is a good size base, and so bidding for particular days off should be doable... those random birthdays in the middle of the month usually aren't a problem if that is what you want to bid for. I wouldn't expect weekends off or holidays for a couple years though. You may get one or two weekends a month, or random holidays off depending how you bid.

As mentioned above, it really depends what your long term aviation goals are, and also how well you can live off $25k your first year. Good luck.