Yes, you are overlooking something very serious 
I haven’t “played” Flight Simulator in at least 15 years, but I can give you two examples that have pleased me most at the time and which are undoubtedly still relevant.
There was (maybe still is) an organization in America that created a virtual airline with DC3s. They thoroughly worked out all the methods that were once used to deliver mail in America, and the idea was that it was through these methods that you could rise in rank. What made it so beautiful was that you flew an old plane, no GPS, no autopilot. Flying was really “the seat of the pants.” You had to plan your flight, find the radio signals, select the courses, and find the runway. And because of the realistic weather, that was a real challenge.
The second example is more of a generic “thing”: By delving into what it takes to fly from A to B, by increasing the realism settings, you learn a lot about flying. Aerodynamics, actions, navigation. Everything is really interesting in the books (I think…), but in Flight Simulator you can see and feel it. This is especially true for DC3 because nothing has been played there yet. Synchronization of cycles, regulation of the fuel mixture, pitch of the propellers.
So yeah, you’re missing something. But you can still do something about it
