I'm also self-taught, but I don't see a degree as valueless. There's a lot of concentrated knowledge to be had in a hurry from a good (probably even a decent) program, and while I've yet to run into a case where I could not pick up what I needed on the fly, I certainly have many times felt it would be an enormous timesaver, and thus make me more efficiently able to do things I enjoy doing and that get me paid, to have had that knowledge preloaded.

On the other hand, I didn't start my adult life a few dozen grand into the red with student loan debt, which, from what I gather through long acquaintance with many who did, has very considerable advantages of its own. So I'd have to call it a tradeoff - but, then, that's my whole point: it's not accurate to say that either option is strictly preferable to the other.