They've always prioritized fidelity of the actual simulation. It's as realistic as they can get it. With the upcoming version, they've done a lot of work to improve this. The article is a good example of this; and typical of the style of Austin Meyer (founder of Laminar Research).

This fidelity is what makes x-plane hard to fly (and a lot of fun) because a lot of interesting planes are fundamentally hard to fly in the real world as well; unless you know what you are doing and have good controls. However, a simple twisting joystick goes a long way. I have an ancient Microsoft one (like 15 years) and it has served me well over the years. You just have to calibrate it correctly. Most x-plane developers have pretty modest setups too. You just need to set things up right and then fly the numbers (correct v-speeds). And select the right planes. I always enjoy flying the simpler planes.

What's interesting is that most simple joysticks are actually already more expensive than the sim. You get some amazing value for not a lot of money.

Fs-elite has been running a series of interviews with x-plane developers about v12 the last few weeks. Well worth checking out if you are interested in x-plane: https://www.youtube.com/c/FSElite/videos

I'm particularly looking forward to the improved weather and clouds. Also, built in ATC looks like it should be more usable.