There was a time when accumulating hundreds of hours of ME was a requirement to get hired by regionals. That is no longer the case, and will not be the case for many years to come.
Realistically you'll just need 50 hours ME (maybe 25 if the regionals allow you to credit their sim time towards ATP mins, some already do this).
I would be reluctant to spend a lot of extra money solely to get ME time. Do a little math and figure out what's the cheapest path to 25 and 50 ME hours.