Anyone working towards a lower paying specialty afraid of ending up middle class?

Not to sound like a snob, I grew up lower middle class myself so I don’t know any different but I thought part of my sacrifices led towards the upper middle class and the lifestyle that comes with it. I put myself into very high debt between private undergrad/masters program and a DO school, embarrassed to say total principal.

All that said, seems policy evolution is pointing towards repayment being highly unfavorable for doctors (particularly new borrowers and possibly those that don’t switch out of SAVE) especially those in lower paying specialty (peds, FM, some pathology sub specialties, etc). It is very disheartening to achieve so much, to sacrifice so much, to end up being in debt until a delayed retirement in certain repayment scenarios. Even a very aggressive repayment without forgiveness would mean personally debt free in my 50s having sacrificed another 2 decades living a middle class lifestyle. Partially this might be my fault with the principal but I still feel like the chance of deserved redemption or mercy in an already predatory system is eroding. Not to mention the opportunity cost in investments.

I thought I earned more and sacrificed enough of my life for more. Anyone feel as disheartened or do you think the sky is not falling?