Read the links and articles, get some reality and perspective, but keep this info to yourself for now.

Your boy is 17 and won't understand the pressures of debts and career progression and commuting to another base. He's dreaming of flying jets and exploring the world and thats fine.

Before you go all in for a full time flight school or top dollar aviation college, get the kid involved with flying locally. Start with a private pilots license, a large part of which he can do without ever touching an airplane (he can study for and take the multiple choice written test prior to the flying portion). Have him help work towards this (using part of his allowance or part time work) i.e. let him have a stake financially in making this happen, he will appreciate the investment more.

From here he can get an idea of flight training (this career is a lifetime of training, studying, prep, and testing/re-qual… every bit as important or more so than being good on the stick and rudder bits).

Maybe he goes to junior college for two years and the money saved goes to flight training. He could be a CFI by the time he has an associates, and instruct part time while he finishes a bachelors (advise business or technical or medical, something outside aviation).

Now he has a degree in another field, a good bit done towards qualifying for an airline job, he's busted his hump a bit, and you can take stock of where the hiring wave is then.

Plenty of alternatives and there is quite a bit than can be done with minimal investment vs. writing a big check to a puppy mill pilot factory.