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I am A+/MCSE/CNA certified. It took me $10,000, a lot of work, and almost a year to acquire these certifications. Since this was a career change for me I took an entry level networking job where they knew from the bat I would have a lot to learn as I went along. This was the best money and time I have ever spent.

A certification by itself doesn't mean a whole lot. Neither does experience. Having the experience behind you AND the certification that proved you learned something at your last job is everything. Also, today's businesses want people with good soft skills. I would suggest working on these if you haven't refined them already.

Having my MSCE behind me has allowed me to absorb information at an much higher rate than my co-workers who don't have a solid foundation upon which to build. If you are expecting to get this cert. and land an $80,000 a year job as a network administrator...good luck, not gonna happen. If you are serious about acquiring knowledge you can put to use in the IT field that will give you some solid footing to stand on while you learn more...it's not a bad way to go.

P/S I would say the minimum for actually learning the material the MCSE tests are designed to test is 6 months, 50 hours a week. You could probably just study to pass the tests and get it in 6 weeks, but you would only look like an idiot the first time you interviewed, or god forbid, showed up for work.