I will be praying for you sponsorship seems to be the hold up for many. I can empathize with you sponsorship will be our challenge as well. This is not a question that I expect an answer to just saying..why should money be the hold up for us being with our loved ones? {no answer needed} Such is life..I am prayerful though!
Are you stating that those are the exact words you sent to the embassy? If so, I think youre going to have an extremely tough interview.
You basically said, as Mrs.Hogan explained, youre contemplating a divorce (you pretty much said so with 'what happens if we divorce') and are asking how long do you need to stay married to obtain benefits.
Remaining married to obtain benefits is fraud. They will not grant you a visa under those circumstances.
Sadly now youre going to need to demonstrate to the embassy that you contemplated divorce and explain the reasons why. Then prove to them you changed your mind and immigrating to the US (getting a GC/becoming a citizen in the future) had absolutely no role in it whatsoever. How in the heck youre going to prove that? I have no idea. Its going to be hard to overcome.