The screenshots there don't look like IL-2 but rather like SoW to me :hmm:
Otherwise, what's so bad about a sim-lite? Didn't a lot of us have a somewhat arcade introduction to sims as well? I sure as hell did - it could be a good "gateway drug" for people
And while I'm not being overly optimistic here, a lot of very good games came out of not-so-hardcore efforts in this area.