Your fears are valid. Trying to predict the future of this industry is like trying to predict what kind of a season your favorite sports team is going to have.
Right now things look more promising than they have in a long time. Regulation changes, economy downturns or technology however, can change future prospects as fast as a star quarterback breaking his ankle.
Spending 70K to make the same 24,000 a year that retail workers make is a bad deal. We’ve seen it happen before which is why we have a pilot shortage now because everyone bailed on the industry.
If I were you I’d get my PPL as fast as I could. If you’re passionate about flying you won’t regret that. Once you got that you’ll be able to better gauge how fast you pick things up and make more informed decisions regarding switching careers