I am 35. Similar situation. Researched the crap out of it. 40-50k first year- no bonuses. 50k second year. 90k when upgrade complete. I am hoping for skywest as it is commutable with my current firefighter career. I figure I need to do 18 months working both careers to pay off the loans then I can make a decision about which way to go. Job stability working for local government is worth a lot more right now.

I have about 75k invested and think I did it on the cheap end for a 141 program. I owned a plane once I got my commercial then CFII'd to get my hours. Now sitting at R-ATP minimums. 61k in student loans paying minimal interest on (thanks bailouts)

Now I am just waiting until the hiring starts again or until my regular career overtime returns. Either way I need the economy to restart.

I did not consider flying abroad but with how many pilots are without jobs worldwide I wouldn't count on much of anything for a while because even as a 1000 hour cfi its getting hard to find flying work. United guys are taking 135 jobs. 135 jobs are taking 91 jobs. Furloughed and about to be Furloughed regional guys are taking whats left of the cfi and jump zone work. Fortunately I can play the waiting game at this point. Its probably a good time to start training because 2 years from now will be better

Good luck