Might try renaming the "settings" folder and see if everything goes back to normal. That is a brute force way to get the game back to acting like a fresh install.
Then you can copy the configuration files (a few at a time) from the original "settings" folder to the new folder.
The configuration files are named pretty logically and the extension of the file name is also a clue.
The "planes" folder contains the "pwl" (Plane World Loadout), and "hps" (Head PoSition) files. These files use the games plane name for the name of each file.
The "settings" folder contains:
cfg: configuration files
kmp: Keyboard Mapping files. One for each section of the keyboard mapping (chute, global, gunner, plane, vehicle, and view).
jsm: Joystick Mapping files.
There are others.
There are also configuration files for VR/MR headsets. These configuration files all mirror the regular configuration files and start with the letters "VR" attached to them.
Hope that helps.