I left an engineering career to become a professional pilot. I was a few years younger than you, but still pretty close in age. Aviation is in my family, and I’ve been flying around in light planes since I was a kid. Still, I did as much flight training on the side as I could before leaving engineering. At the very least, get your PPL. When I was a flight instructor, I saw quite a few people that just knew they wanted to be professional pilots quit pretty early in the process. With your background that’s unlikely, but it’s cheap insurance.