You can do what you want, of course, but you might take it from others who have been in your situation, or at least educate yourself about the actual situation out there.

What makes you so sure that GIA is going to give you a year upgrade time? Do you not realize that almost every regional is around a two year upgrade time right now, with a couple of the likes like Mesa, TSA, Colgan, Mesaba, and others being around a year? And those places don't make you pay for training! Not only that, but in this volatile of an industry, all this can change on a moments notice. Not just upgrade times, but the actually financial security of the industry as a whole. Perhaps if the difference between a year or two years of upgrade time is so unbelievably important to you, it might not be the best thing for you to enter this industry?

My opinions are my own and only affect the people who either come to me because they need something from me or those who seek my advise, but I think you need to think long and hard about why exactly you're getting into this industry.