Even when I was "full time" I was doing part-time hours, and I earned about a graduate wage. I think I used to do between 10 and 30 hours a month. So yes, camming part time can be extremely lucrative depending on how good you are at it, how lucky you are and in part how you look. I have never tried chaturbate or couples camming before so I cannot really advise you on that. But I do think that camming full time is hard work, just a 2-3 hour shift can be mentally exhausting. It's not because you're physically doing sexual things to yourself, it's because you need to be upbeat and lively and always keep things interesting for that time. So I wouldn't be put off if you only have say 2 days per week to cam for a few hours.
My main advice would be to make those days pretty consistent and come online at the same time.
As for putting yourself on the internet forever, it's definitely a risk, and if you're doing couples camming it's definitely a bit more graphic than going solo. The only thing I would say is that the risk goes up when you become successful and have been camming for a while. It's pretty easy to take caps down from main tube sites and any cappers sites tend to be frequented by other cappers. Unfortunately it also makes it impossible to get stuff taken down from capping sites, but fortunately it means you have less chance of being recognised.
Honestly, no one else can tell you whether or not to try it out. I wouldn't let other people dissuade you as you may well end up loving it and making a small fortune which could help you in your life. You may find that you hate it and make nothing, or somewhere in the middle. No one else can tell you how it will go. I have a friend who has been thinking of camming and she keeps getting anxious about this stuff and over thinking it. I don't want to tell her "you're hot and fun, you'll probably make bank" as she could totally fail, or I could raise her expectations which could end up making her not enjoy it. Camming is such a crazy industry that it's nearly impossible to tell who will do well, so it's up to you to make that choice. And if it were me, I would rather have a go and see what happens than allow others to persuade me out of something potentially awesome. I've done that before and it has only led to regret.