I mean there are definite little touches that greatly improve the game, it's just the fact you're paying 20 dollars for 4-5 new buildings, 6 new edicts, a new campaign and a patch.
Although the one thing I do like is the fact you place road and if there's not any major buildings nearby it becomes dirt road.
I guess another good thing is that it has multiplayer, but I've yet to try it.
In general the game seems easier. It's funny I started my current Island as a communist paradise, I ended up going Capitalist in 1964 and I went from 20K exports to 90k Exports.
Plus even though I was closer with Russia, the US was paying 6,700K compared to the 5,400K the USSR paid yearly.