Anyone coming into this career field needs a formal education in something unrelated to flying, something you can do sitting at a desk for two reasons. 1) pilots jobs are threatened to be outsourced to foreign pilots and our pay and benefits are constantly under threat of terrible cuts (but never management's) and 2) you never know when you may lose your medical certificate.

You have got to have a way to make a living other than being a door greeter at Wal-Mart or wearing a Homer aron at Home Depot. Putting all your eggs into a "pilot" basket is a sure way to long-term failure, I'm afraid. I hate to be a nay-sayer, but kids need to have options throughout life. Generate your options now while you can. You have a construction background, have you looked in getting a degree in Construction Management? Those guys are pulling in six figure incomes inside of five years from school, and their job cannot be outsourced.

Fly if you want, but have options so you can walk away from it when (not if) it gets to be too costly on your family life, your body, and not worth the pain and effort it takes to make the donuts for management stooges.