There is a lot of factual information in the previous posts and A LOT that is wrong. You do not need a 1000 hours to start instructing in helicopters, more like 250 due to insurance not the FAA. Helicopter pilots are in great demand at this time and now in the Gulf of Mexico a contract pilots day rate in a bell ranger is $750 a day. Not too shabby at all. There are jobs out there like there never have been. I have been flying helos for 20 years and there was never the demand for pilots like there is now. However the minimum times did not stay the same they dropped due to the shortage so the salarys only went up a little. Things are changing slowly but not fast enough. Salary generaly is about 45k to 65 k for a helicopter pilot but you can get that in 1000 hours.
The military is not cranking out pilots like they used to and infact most employers do not like to hire todays military because they simple do not have the experience. Most mil pilots while they have been flying bigger equipment do not fly by themselves and find it very difficult to fly making their own decisions.
I find myself trying to get into the fixed wing world and it is extremely difficult as well I am an ATP with about 300 hours fixed and 6000 rotor and I am viewed as a 300 hour piston pilot when it comes to FW.
If you have to make a choice go FW as you will never fly a helicopter to a tropical paradise with 7 flight attendants that know you will make a lot of money one day.
Helicopter jobs are dirty, usually in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of the night in bad weather at the last second. The only money to be made in helicopters is in the movies and that is an exclusive club of pilots or flying AG which pays A LOT, I used to make $1500-$1800 a night flying AG but I also almost got killed twice.
Do yourself a favor and fly fixed wing pay your dues and buy your own helicopter and fly for fun.