These perceptions may be wholly inaccurate but they will remain until demonstrated otherwise.
You don't need to go all-out on top-end graphics cards, processors, cases and watercooling to play PC games at a similar or higher standard (in terms of graphical quality and framerate) to consoles.
A mid-range PC may or may cost a little more than a console but the fantastic savings that come from things like Steam sales mean you can for example, pick up 5-10 games over Christmas for a fraction of the price of doing the same with the XBox/Playstation versions of those games can mean it ends up being a lot cheaper in the long run.
Of course, knowing about the prices of PC hardware and how to put together the best bang-for buck system is something you would have to consider. That knowledge is unnecessary with consoles.
[0] maybe calling some of these things games is an over aggrandizement. They're probably more "graphical amusements."
There was very little about the last generation of consoles that appealed to me and basically nothing about the current one.
There are a few console exclusive games I would quite like to play, but honestly my Steam backlog alone is like 2+ years at this point and always growing.
I have more than enough stuff to play as it is.