I went only an hour away for law school, but it was kind of a spur of the moment decision for me -- I took the LSAT in June, applied, and started in August. I took out loans for my first year, which was more than enough money, but I attended a super cheap, public school in an area where it's very inexpensive to live. Our administration told us that the ABA
prohibited first year law students from having jobs. I don't know if that's actually true, but I would
strongly advise against having a job first year. Your first year grades are incredibly important in terms of finding summer jobs and making law review -- which can both be very, very important to your career. Attorneys tend to be both school and grade snobs, so it's in your best interest to go to the best school that you can. Second and third year I got scholarships but I still took out student loans to pay my living expenses, but I also worked part time. That was fine for me, and I actually found that I was better at managing my time when I had more to do -- class, work, law review, etc.
When deciding where to go to school, you should think about what you want to do after you graduate. If you want to work at a large law firm (and if you do, more power to you!) you should look at the US News law school rankings and attend the highest ranked school that you can, although you should also take into account where you want to practice law and consider going somewhere nearby so you will have lots of alumnae support when you graduate.
This has nothing to do with what you've asked, and I hope I don't sound bitchy (because that is not my intent at all) but I hope that you have VERY SERIOUSLY considered why you want to attend law school and what you want out of a legal career. Quite honestly, I wish that someone had told me that before I went because I probably shouldn't have gone at all. I harp on this all the time -- be sure you know what you're getting into because it's a rough, expensive journey. I hope that you're going into this with realistic expectations as to what a legal career involves (I say that because I did not). In other words, I hope that other people can learn from my mistakes.
Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!