mcp then mcse?

Hi all-

I’m thinking of pursuing a MCSE as a means to a second career. I’m a computer geek at home, but my current job is not IT-related and is too stressful to be conducive to much studying. So…. I was thinking of taking the MCP exam first and then using that to get my foot in the door in the IT world, then studying for the rest of the MCSE. Does this make sense? Can you space out the MCSE exams over a year or more?? I’m sorry if these are very basic questions, but I’m trying to take my first steps on what will probably be a long path…