If I could go back and do it all over, I would not take out a student loan. When I started my accellerated training in 2003, I was actually in a postition to pay upfront for most of my training. However, I had to move my family, buy a house, pay moving expenses, etc., so I thought it would be smarter to use someone elses money to pay for training.
My origninal plan was to use my money to purchase an IFR single-engine, like an arrow or a cardinal, then hire an instructor to fly with me in my own airplane, then resell it or keep it after my training was complete, therefore skipping one of the biggest expenses of flight training, aircraft rental. I wish I had done it this way.
In any event, if airline pilot is what you want to do, I will not try and disuade you. This is my second career path in life and I am happier for it because I truly love flying. If you're just looking for a career to make money there are a lot of other paths you can take. However, if you're like most of the pilots I know, and you have a passion for flying, I recommend not waiting to get started. I waited when I was younger and in my opinion wasted almost 20 years doing something that I was not passionate about. That was harder on me an my family than being in a career that I love. In my former career, I used to come home every day disgruntled. In my aviation career, I come home every 4 or 5 days happy and content. Which do you prefer?