Seems I am in the minority here as a big advocate for simulator use for flight training, that's however assuming you use it in the right way. I'm a great believer that a large amount of preparation on the ground before any demanding flight can take the pressure off in the air and flight sims can play a very valid part of this.
Going back 20+ years ago I first used MS Flight Sim during my PPL training, not for the physical handing aspect however purely to drill in procedures and processes. For example flying circuits, I'd fly 100's of them on the sim between lessons so that when I got back in the real aircraft the downwind checks and whole process of when to do what and at what height was drilled into my brain, one less thing to have to think about in the air.
Several years later when it came to doing my CPL I wanted my visual and Radio Nav to be spot on and was able to use FSX again with photo real scenery to practice nav routes with unknown winds so I was forced to calculate corrections and also to practice establishing my position using VOR/DME / VOR crosscuts. Yes of course I also did this in the real aircraft but I could practice it 100s of times in the sim so I was able to do it without a second thought.
Fast forward to modern day and home Flight sim technology has evolved to an unbelievable level, especially with the introduction of home VR systems giving you the ability to actually sit and look around inside the cockpit with full depth perception. The graphical capabilities of high end modern PC's are also able to produce incredible terrain and cockpit detail.
I used an example of this technology in 2016, I contacted the developers of AeroFlyFS 2 and asked them to place some pylons at Reno Stead airport to represent the Formula 1 course so I could practice ahead of the 2016 air races. They kindly did this for me and I was able to fly 100's of laps of the Formula 1 course from 5000 miles away, the terrain was so detailed I was able to pick up the scrub lines to follow and dirt roads to use as a turn in point.
This actually saved me making a complete ass of myself on my first qualifying session when I was first out on the course and 2 of the pylons had not been raised, at 50' and 250mph its very easy to get lost when you cant see the next pylon if you don't know where its supposed to be! In the end this was a great help and probably contributed to me winning the F1 Silver class despite one of the toughest fields for years.
The Aerofly guys have also made custom courses for a couple of the Red Bull guys to practice flying in VR so it really is proving its worth at all levels.
Again just this year I turned to a PC sim when I was due to re-qualify on a vintage Military Jet that I hadn't flown for 10+ years in airspace I hadn't flow in for several years.
I managed to build the exact cockpit of the real aircraft in MS Flight Simulator and was able to practice all the startup, shutdown and in flight checks and emergency procedures in the sim before getting back in the real jet.
I also downloaded the photo real scenery of the area I would be flying and used to it to fly from VRP to VRP so I knew how to find my way around visually.
End result was being 100% comfortable in the cockpit as soon as I strapped in and knowing my way around the airspace, very useful as the controllers were messing us around somewhat. I was signed off again after the 90 mins required to cover everything in the check flight despite not having seen the jet for over a decade.
So yes, for me, sims have proved to be extremely useful over the years for drilling things into my brain before taking to the air and the above are just a few examples of how I've personally benefited. I would however point out that in addition to this I keep myself very current on a wide variety of types and consider myself a pretty experienced stick and rudder guy.
No sim will every be a substitute for actual hand flying experience but i have to say some like AeroflyFS2 do a pretty decent job of it, MS flight sim certainly doesn't but still has its uses.