Sandy, in 1996 I was a 29 year old truck driver trapped in an over the road job and knew I wanted a better life. I was not interested in flying then but I said there must be a better way. I applied to college at a state school, got accepted, started taking classes and driving part time locally for a short haul yard in my area. Driving by Hartsfield International in Atlanta every day to that job in the summer one year, I got interested in flying. The east end of runway 27 juts out by the freeway on the south end of ATL. I then transferred to another school with a flying club and started adding flight ratings one after another in my spare time. Long story short, 5 years later I am flying fulltime and enjoying it tremendously. I never went to an aviation college or racked up any loans. Get a local job so you can fly in more of your spare time, and you can do it in a few years if you try. It is hard for people who have to work full time... but it can be done.