Ask HN: How do you smoothly transition from Electrical Engineer to Developer?

I have both an undergraduate and master's degree in Electrical Engineering, and currently work for a defense company. While I love what I do, my passions lie in the startup world and, more specifically in development. I do all that I can developing when I am not physically at work, but I feel as though I will always be one step behind someone who is doing this full time. My current occupation offers incredible knowledge and experience, but it has little relation to software and developing; these are the tasks I want to spend my time on.

I have the education, passion, drive, and attitude to be a part of something great, but I am lacking the experience necessary to do so. How do I smoothly transition myself form hardware EE to software developer. Yes, I can save up money and take x months off to work full time on developing, but given my financial status (school loans, mortgage, etc.), this will be unsustainable for a long amount of time. At what point would a company accept a hobbyist developer vs. a full time developer from another company (at a reasonable rate)? I am willing to devote all my time to this art, but am finding it hard to get there.