Not Sure Where To Start
I'm an average joe
The "I'm an average joe" mentality won't help you if you want to get your foot in any door. You kind of need to be quite stubborn in order to not give up after only a month/year.
Every average joe has a multi-billion-dollar idea and has the perfect game in mind, the only little detail that stops them is that they kind of need to actually make that game.
If you want to develop something I would start by going through some tutorials, for example: http://lazyfoo.net/tutorials/SDL/index.php
It is very important that you do not start making 3D stuff before you've made a decent finished 2D game!
I'm not sure where I could begin on getting my foot in the door for this type of video game design.
I see a few ways to interpret the question.
If you're asking about the role generally, you might find this a useful starting point.
If you're asking about it as a day job, start with reading these.
If you're asking abut building your specific game idea, read those same items in the link above with particular emphasis on numbers 1, 11, 13, 14, 31, then read the others.
Quite simply, ideas are the easiest part of the equation. Just start learning something and maybe some day you will complete something. That's where to start.
Do you have any prior coding knowledge (not necessarily game or graphics related)? Or experience with 2d or 3d art?
Reading the forum FAQ and the rest of the stickies would be a good place to start (basically go to Tom Sloper's website and take the time to go through everything.)
You aren't the first person to struggle with where to start. If you have more specific questions, feel free to come back and ask, we might all learn something new.
