Database education?

[Scott Ehrlich]

Hello to all:

I am a desktop support /help desk professional (now 33 yrs old) and have
been doing this stuff since I got introduced to an Apple II+ back in the
fourth grade.

I am now one month into a six-month temporary f/t desktop support
position, and am trying to decide, during this time, what my next step
will be.   I have an Associates in Computer Science and a Bachelor's of
Science in Engineering Technology, and regularly use PCs and Macs, and all
OSes, though my preferable ones are Windows and MacOS, with some UNIX.
To this point, hardware, operating system, and general application
troubleshooting are my specialities.

I am now considering putting more focus into a more concentrated area,
such as database work.   I have no experience with databases, though I do
recall some things from my days in college (graduated in 1996).

For someone like me, where do people recommend I start?    I know about
the existence of Oracle and Access, and have used, as an end-user,
Filemaker.

Part of my desire/goal is the ability to work remotely, and be able to
narrow my focus to one task.   Along the way, I would like to maintain a
good income, and when I start a family, be able to be home if/when
necessary.

I think I would learn best from class instructions vs self-study for
the longer-term, but would be very happy with a self-study to get myself
started.

My most recent dedicated UNIX experience has been with Debian installs,
next to using my MacOS 10.3.5 machine at home every day and taking
advantage of its Terminal program to ssh into my domain provider's BSD
box.

What kind of money could I be looking at for income once I start to look
for database type jobs with no database experience?  How hard is it to
break into the field?  What full body of knowledge do I need for a
DBA-type role?  How long, on average, does it take to reach good enough
competency to be considered a DBA?

Thanks for any leads/ideas/help people can offer to help me find the right
path to the database world, if that what I so choose.

Scott