You don't need to completely remove the steering column. Working out of memory here, but you just remove the two bolts that hold the column under the dash, which will drop the column. In my case the column drops until the steering wheel is held by the front seat. You probably don't want to drop it more than that. This would give you enough room to access the ignition switch bolts. When I had problems with my switch I did it a few times this way.
A ratchet wrench may be handy. Don't make the mistake of tightening it too much as I did. I ended up braking the stud. It still worked with one stud for a while until I removed the whole column and welded it back.