Changing careers at 5 years into a job, is it realistic? after 5 years as a software tester

I want to move from software tester to something with more stability. There are 5 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. I have a little time and a small budget for training. Did you take a pay cut?

Try a small project in the new field before committing. It told me a lot about whether I would enjoy it.