Using the "search" feature can answer many of your questions and TexasFlyer summed it up pretty well.
My answer is that first you need to decide if you want to fly helicopters or fixed wing aircraft. You have to decide what type of flying is most appealing to you, not only in the near term but also as a long term career.
Most helicopter pilots I know received their initial training through and was paid for by Uncle Sam via the military. This is still the cheapest, yet, highest quality of training one can receive while flying expensive top of the line turbine equipment...and getting paid while doing it! The key here is "quality training" and "turbine" equipment. The truth of the matter is that the civilian road to flying helicopters is prohibitively expensive and you won't be very employable after receiving all your ratings because you'll have such low total time no employer will touch you because of insurance requirements.
Most military helicopter pilots come out with a couple thousand hours of good multi-engine turbine time and no debt. Insurance companies like that and so do employers. You'd finish your civilian training with maybe a couple hundred hours in small piston powered "puddle jumper" helicopters that are marginally equipped not to mention the out of pocket expense. Then comes the olé catch 22. Nobody will hire you without more time and you won't be able to get the time without someone hiring you. Who would you hire if you were an employer? Helicopter jobs are fewer and farther between than fixed wing and the best helicopter jobs don't pay anywhere close to what the best fixed wing jobs pay. Maybe not a big deal when you're 22 but when you're 52 it is.
If you want to fly helicopters, and personally..I think it would be a blast especially if it were helping others like medi-vac, I would highly recommend you march down to the local Army, Navy or Coast Guard recruiter and inquire about being a helicopter pilot.
Now, if your dreams are to fly fixed wing your choices are more numerous. Obviously, you always have Uncle Sam if you meet the qualifications. Barring that, you have numerous colleges with flight school programs (hugely expensive but a more structured syllabus). You can go down to the local airport's FBO and sign up for lesson and plot away at your own pace until achieving all your ratings (I'm a product of this method and haven't done to bad
). The other method is to sign up for one of those fast track flight schools where they take you from 0 time to CRJ f/o candidate in 6 months or so. Crazy, yea...but that's just the current sign of the times. Commercial flying can be anything from CFI, crop dusting to B747 Capt and the wages vary anywhere from near poverty to several hundred thousand/yr.
The thing to remember is that what ever you decide to do in aviation you won't start at the top tier position, it'll probable cost a lot up front, there will be much frustration along the way and the good part is that there are no guarantees when it's all said and done.
You'll find a lot of info on the board if you spend a little time and effort to search it out. Good Luck!
