Community college is how you want to get started. The classes there are substantially cheaper, you can take whatever classes you want without concern over cost, you’re not punished financially for doing less than full time (12 credits per semester), you can typically take them outside your work schedule or possibly go down to part-time at work to fit classes in, the instructors are there because they want to teach, rather than because they’re some PhD researcher that they plop down in a classroom, and it all has a more proletarian character.

Figure out what university you’ll want to transfer to, based on things including degree programs, undergraduate research opportunities, core requirements, and transfer stipulations (e.g. to earn a bachelor’s, they may require you to earn 60 of their own credits). Oh, and cost. Factor cost of living into this; many college towns have cheaper housing and are bikeable and have food pantries you can rely on if you need to.

As hellinkilla said, the public university is a great place for those who know exactly what they want and where they’re going. Complete as much as you can at community college before transferring, including any side interests. If you’re looking for a master’s for psychotherapy, there will probably be some prerequisites for it; get those at the community college too.

For each institution, you should be able to find a course catalog with 1-paragraph descriptions of each class. This is one of your most useful tools.