Now, 33 years later I watch videos of people playing DCS and I'm in the exact same situation. Only before, I had no money, but today I have money, but choose not spend it, because I'm the kind of guy that would drop multiple thousands of dollars on peripherals.
"Wanna play DCS?" "No. No, man. I'm clean."
You need joystick, throttles, rudder pedals, and ideally a VR headset. IR head tracking appears to work, but I have no idea how, given that you’d have to point your head away from the screen to look over your shoulder.
It sounds awkward but it works very well as an input method. It's also way less intense than VR for longer sessions.
Not saying it's absolutely superior, just that it's pretty good as designed.
2. Because the Xbox and PS5 gamepads are better designed and more reliable than any flight stick under $135. Remember, these gamepads have 7 figure R&D budgets, and are used by real world soldiers to control some drones and robots.
3. Because they're 100% viable. I personally know two people who can fly better on a gamepad - including formation flight, air refueling, carrier landings and all combat roles - than I can on $1000 of HOTAS.
4. Because portability is useful for people who travel, such as one of my wingmen who is active duty US military. When deployed he has his gaming laptop and a gamepad.
Your attitude is exclusionary, acidic and outdated.
P.S. As mentioned IR trackers use a multiplier curve, so on mine a 20 degree movement gets multiplied to 180 degrees in game. It feels very natural and intuitive.
Also, you don't need rudder pedals at all. The executive producer of DCS World is wheelchair bound, and simply uses an input on his throttle to control the rudder. This is the person who makes the Apache tutorial videos, BTW.
A Logitech joystick with throttle and twist is literally $34, and a Logitech X52 with a separate throttle is $65.
Sit down.
The 3D Pro is alright, but it's got fewer usable buttons than a gamepad, (the ones on the base aren't reachable with the grip hand) so it's kind of sixes with a controller. The gamepad is a bit better at input-heavy aircraft such as the A-10 or the front seat in the Apache.
GA has problems, and they're only getting worse.