I would say that there really is no good route for ID from an online perspective. Even many 4 year programs are not truly competitive by today’s standards. Design is a very competitive field (even if 2/3rds of students may not be that competitive, the top percentage that are try very hard) and the quality of students year over years keeps improving.
I’ll also point out (as someone who once aspired to be a car designer) that car design is one of, if not the hardest field to land a job in, let alone a good job. Many car designers “Settle” for ID careers, just the nature of supply and demand.
Being in my mid 30’s I understand the risk is a very big piece too, especially if you’ve got a family, mortgage, or other things to worry about that your average 19 year old isn’t dealing with.
At this stage in your career you’d have to decide if investing $100-200k into education is going to produce the ROI you want, or if you could use that money for something else. Starting your own business for example, that could buy you a whole lot of tools and equipment.
A friend and business partner of mine was in a very similar boat, he was in his mid 30’s doing insurance underwriting (same reasons, it paid the bills) and decided to give it all up to start a bike shop since that was his true passion. He maxed out all his credit cards to do it, and took a substantial pay cut but 17 years later and he couldn’t be happier since he’s doing what he loves on a daily basis.
Part of being a creative often means you like working with your hands. Perhaps there’s something design-related with a lower barrier to entry that would excite you. For $200k you could easily rent a garage and start buying and fixing up used hot-rods to re-sell.