I don't buy lotto tickets either.
ROTC is fine. Actually AFROTC worked out great for a couple friends in the 80s when the AF gave out too many full rides. At graduation, they were given the option of NOT going active because there were too many officers already.
Or there is the enlisted route. With Tuition Assistance, good planning, and persistence in a six year hitch a guy could get out with a BS for next to nothing...... And after getting out, the GI Bill could cover about half of his flight training at a less expensive 141 school. An 18yo kid could get out at 24 with a degree, Comm ASEL/AMEL, and CFI with zero debt if he saved a few bucks while on duty and had a part time job during flight school. Instruct for a year, fly a Caravan or Navajo for a year, move up to a King Air (preferably with glass), and then a Brasilia. Now he is about 28, zero debt, great experience, and can be pretty picky about where he goes next: corporate, charter, fractional, regional, or (if he really works the job fairs, etc) maybe even mainline.
But it takes work, planning, and sacrifice.
Or just get a bunch of loans and be in debt forever because it is easier.
Disclosure: that enlisted route was almost exactly the one I took. CFIIs were more in demand and I took a signature loan of $2000 (about 20 hours of Instructor pay) to finish up. Loan was paid well before I quit instructing, and I haven't eaten ramen since
