I have been lurking in many of these forums trying to determine if aviation is the career for me. I have always been fascinated with flight and have been a MSFS junkie since I was twelve. I recently knocked out my 4-year degree in Business and am currently in sales. Frankly I hate the corporate world, my office is adjacent to Rwy 36R at KTPA and every time I see a plane on take-off or final I am envious of those lucky guys (or girls) in the cockpit. I had my first couple flights recently and love it as much as I thought I would; now I'm looking into flight school. From what I've seen in these blogs schools like ERAU and DCA are extremely costly and since they are so expensive students assume they are worthwhile. However, when applying for a job at a major airline I would imagine it would look good on a resume since these programs are geared toward airline jobs and highly rigid and standardized. They also give you many hours quickly. If I could get the same experience at an FBO, for a fraction of the cost I would rather do that. Is this as good as an Academy? I am 26 and want to start a family within the next 5-10 years and would love to fly, but I don't want to starve either and drag my family around the country constantly. Sorry for making this so long but I need some advice. Please respond only if you have experience since I read a lot of hear-say.