A mom and pop school is a small field based operator, not a big flight school like ATPs. Becoming an airline pilot is expensive. I worked for ten years in IT before going to flight school. You should focus on college first, because you will need a degree to advance as a professional pilot. That degree SHOULD be practical, i.e. not a history degree. Check out AOPA and get their Flight Training Magazine. Start out with a Sport Pilot license first, it's cheaper gives you the basics, and can be expanded to a Private License. During the summer, you could work, live at home and get the license. But be warned, going at this before you are financially ready will be very costly, because of all the stops and starts which will cause you to have to repeat lessons or flying time.
An average person who flys 3x a week AND studies well can get a private license in about 50 hours. The best I've seen is 38 hours. This is not an easy vocation, it will take extreme dedication unless you are the son of an oil Sheikh.