Career change after a layoff, where to begin?

After 11 years as an IT help-desk technician I am thinking about moving into a different field. I would rather hear the honest version than the polite one. I have a little time and a small budget for training. Has anyone made a similar move?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.