I am in the field and my bachelor's is in another (business, HR). However, most of the successful programmers and technicians (database, network, other computer related) either don't have degrees or if they have, it's not computer science or computer engineering.
After more than a decade in this field I have observed a few things about the success stories and the bitter burnouts:
1) Any degree is good for the mental exercise and it shows you can have a goal and finish it, but don't think for a second that anything taught to you in school will have anything to do with the real world (especially in computer related majors). BTW, I have most of the course work for my CS degree and computer engineering degree and don't really plan on getting a second bachelors having seen what is taught and what the field truly demands of you. If you don't have any degree, then by all means get the CS degree or computer engineering degree.
2) Too many CS majors get this twisted view of what should be correct in this field and when they find out what it is really like, more often than not they get very depressed. People who enter this field with other degrees, and in many cases no degree, usually don't have the ridiculous misconceptions that CS majors have.
3) A CS degree, from the perspective of a former HR person like me, and from every HR person I know, is one that can get dated very quickly. It's like a carton of milk with a date on it and it does get old, quickly. That being said, if you don't have any degree, it's still better to get that CS degree. But realize it comes with the conditions that, as stated above, that there is little correlation between the course work and the real world, and that you will constantly be in the tedious and painful state of re-educating and re-inventing yourself. However, for those who don't want to get bored with mastering anything, CS is perfect. This is one field more than any other where you can never be a master at it. Unlike being a lawyer, veterinarian, pharmacist, plumber, mechanic, pilot, or just about any field, you can always find a 12 year old on any block (or maybe in Silicon Valley where it's commonplace but not other areas) who can and will kick your ass in this field no matter how many degrees you get in CS. My guess is that any major city will have too many very skilled computer geeks far younger but far better than most CS degree holders. While it's a bit of a drama, check out Pirates of Silicon Valley (movie) or The Social Network. While not every computer geek who is in puberty becomes Steve, Steve, or Mark (without degrees and possessing many millions), there are many talented computer people too young to drink, and not yet in college, or nowhere near college graduation.
Anyway, I hope this helps. And as for student loans, yes they can take time but there's no debt cop forcing you to pay it all off in one year. 
In order of success, from programmers I have met over the years, here's the most successful to the least successful (financially and personally):
1) programmers who would do it for free and who have been at it since a very young age
2) people who may or may not have degrees but love to program as their hobby because they like it and are thrilled when they get work and don't worry about student loans if they have them, nor do they care how much they get paid
3) degree holders who may or may not have studied CS but want a job, any job but will be as happy (or not) in the computer field as a programmer
4) the least successful (and most personally devastated and walking wounded) by far is the CS degree holder who thinks they know it all, or know anything for that matter who are under the stupid impression that four years of some teachers (never having worked in the field with deadlines) are going to somehow be helpful in any way toward being a working programmer
That being said, many CS grads make great managers, real estate agents, therapists, landscapers, barristers, firemen, cooks, military personnel, civil servants, non-profit workers, or anything where showing you have the gusto to see yourself through four years of college successfully. In most areas, only a quarter of the people will have a bachelor's or more so it can't hurt to get a degree. The structure of college, and especially the structure of programming (using logic and building patience) is a great skill if the outcome is realizing that YOU are not expected to be a master programmer after the ordeal. Work in the field as a programmer for many years and then you have the right to call yourself competent (and this goes for bench techs, network administrators, and database professionals, too).
OP, I hope this helps and PM me if you have any other questions.
