I have a full CH setup. I was GVing yesterday and had a running fight and got the kill, which with the old style setup I NEVER would have got. The driving controls are setup on my throttle, the gunning on the stick. It was fun and much easier to gun while running. I think things are much better this way.
While using just a keyboard you are able to GV, speed pads, game controllers, or good CH equipment will give you different levels of control, but any of them will get you in to the game!