Bengalsfan,
Your situation is very similar to mine 14 years ago. I left active military in 1992 during the worst economic time in airline history (until this one of course). You do not want to go to a commuter. For your backround, that would be moving backwards. If you have a reserve job, flying big tubines PIC, you should stay in a position that allows you to be available for extra drill periods, ADSW, detachements etc. You should be living it your USAFR base. Be avilable to fly at any time and make sure your CO, DO, etc., all know it. I interviewed at Contiental Express for the interview experience and when they offered me a job, I told them that I'd need a min. of 3k/mo. as opposed to the 1k/mo. that they were offering. The reason I mention this is that I made 42k flling A6's that year as a part timer by being available (turbine PIC). If I'd gone with CoEx, I'd have made 12k and all SIC time. You won't have too much available time to give the reserves.
I'd live in my reserve base and do the reserves, If you need more to do, choose something that is very flexable for time scheduling, like starting a yard mowing service or something. I worked as a Deputy Sheriff for 3 years and was able to easily trade shifts around and had a blast. Do something you want to do on the side that doesn't interfere with your USAFR flying.
Also, you may want to concentrate on JetBlue, Airtran, SWA, FedEx, UPS, ABEX, etc. As one of the other guys posted, seniority is everything (at your final airline). Look very hard at upgrade times and business models. I was hired by American in Feb,04 on a Friday and laid-off the following Monday. Back then, they were estimating 14 years to upgrade. That was before 9-11. After that experience, and some industry research, I put all my concentration into SWA and FedEx. Top pay scales in heavy metal is not a important as time to upgrade. At AA, I would be lucky to get 10 years in the left seat vice 19 years at SWA. I just paid the bills as an FO but am building wealth as a Capt. Hope this helps but it's just my opinion, Hope it all works out for you.