Many people here say that spending money on a flight sim could save you the cost of a plane.
Yes, many say that it could. And it often does. But nobody says it WILL keep you from landing hard. Or that it's guaranteed that you won't crash. The positives of SPENDING MONEY for a sim have been more than sound bite simple. Don't make the mistake of oversimplifying what others have said. And realize that they might have used their sims effectively to help them, so there may be things you missed.
Not only are they not very realistic to what I see at the field......
If they have not seemed realistic to you, but did to others, there is still a good probability that they are what the others have said about them. Personally, I fly a Sukhoi, Ultimate, UltraStick, Tiger2, and P40 that are all available in my favorite sim. I've found that the sim versions fly in the sim very much like the real models fly at the field. And I'm flying the Skybolt on the sim in anticipation to finishing the ARF that's coming together in the shop. I expect to have a leg up on what to expect when I maiden the little sucker. I figure that the $30 I spend to get the add-on that has the Skybolt in it will be $30 well spent. And it'll certainly be $30 worth of enjoyment.