Best laid plans
Planning is great. The reality however is much harder to predict. It is hard to say what even the near future will bring. Sometimes no matter how hard you try you will still have to wait until opportunity comes to find you.
No matter what you do most of what controls your future in the aviation lies in the unseen hands of others. There are times when airlines are not hiring, flight schools are full or loans dry up. Hope for the best but plan for the worse. Rarely does life pan out how we would like. This is coming from a one time 18 year old hopeful like yourself.
I would relax your expectations and give in to what the natural flow of opportunity presents to you. Be prepared to sacrifice for a long time before seeing any results. Hopefully it will not come to that but it is best to be prepared.
Not long ago it was common to have thousands of hours and turbine time prior to reaching a regional. It could go back to that again.
Skyhigh