Thats pretty much the case. With thaumCraft you spend a lot of time at home researching and building. you leave to go and collect VIS in your wand or Scan something you couldn't before. With AM2 you make a spell alter, Oculus, and Desk. you make your first spell with your alter and then you move on to go use it. you have to level it up to use it. you can process materials with the Magic Circles powering your machines. there is less at home involvement with AM2 compared to ThaumCraft. This is also why i decided to test with FlaxBeard's mod as well. granted you cant just toss your ore in a machine and come back in a couple minutes. but its still not a too long of a process.
I'm probably going to add the Mod that gives dual Wielding and Shields. I'm also considering The Roguelike that adds Dungeons to the World. I love that mod. however i think i can stop there for anymore mods being added. it will be mostly tweaking the selection.
The same progression as Thaumcraft, unfortunately, is the same for my 2 favourite magic mods, Blood Magic and Botania, I would of suggested them but after reading most of your first post they just didn't fit in. Botania = Get mana, make better mana gen etc. Blood magic is kill yourself a lot, then kill others for some stuff