I had a great time with my virtual cab that I built before I "outgrew it" and sold it. I don't want to post the price or specs here, not really fair to try and compare, but I'll say this: I sold it to a friend for the cost of the parts, no labor or anything, so a pretty solid deal, and it was more than this for sale price.
If you can I'd really try and test one, or if you're close enough go check out this one, everyone feels differently about virtual pinball in my experience. Gotta try it yourself.
My take: Is it the same thing? No, it's not. But it's a really cool way to learn about and explore all sorts of different tables. Just think of it as a complement to a real machine, not a replacement.