[SkyWest Todd]

Hi Keith,
Nice to hear from you. You're on the rite track with exploring options now. 17 is a great age to get your feet pointed in the direction you want to go for a career.
School / College is a must. Get that done an maybe get your private pilot license to see if it is something that you want for sure. If you like it, you can fly a little with your buddies to build a little time and continue to pursue your goal as an airline pilot. If you find that you don't want to go the airline route, you'll always have your private license to do some weekend flying or whatever.
Get started in a college or university that you like and find a flight school that you can work on your private license. ATP is great because it allows you to pour yourself into the program with no other worries. It's faster and cheaper than most flight schools but you pretty much need to devote all of your time and energy to it. If you get your private while you're going to college, it would allow you to have your degree and your private when you come to ATP and go directly into the career pilot program.
Good luck to you and get your degree for sure!
If you have other quetions, don't hesitate to ask. It may take me a day or two to get back to you but I'll always respond.
Talk to you later, Todd