Yes Shumway, you're thinking about this correctly. Propeller and rotors are different in the way they convert the engine power into movement of air. Bear in mind that the 180 HP Lycoming in a Schweitzer 300 will easily power the helicopter into a climb. A 180 HP Lycoming in a Pitts really cannot even "hover" the plane for any time, let alone sustain a vertical climb indefinitely. the 180 HP is being transmitted into the air differently.
As for torque, yes, consider the aerodynamic center of drag being roughly halfway out the blade (be it propeller or rotor). That power creating drag at the center of drag much further out on the rotor blade than propeller blade creates much more torque to overcome - hence the tail rotor. The torque effect goes further in helicopters, as the side thrust of the tail rotor must also be overcome, so there are tweaks for that too. Depending upon American, or French (rotors turn opposite directions), the helicopter will land either left or right skid first.
For single propeller powered airplanes, there is still torque, but it's usually masked with small aerodynamic tweaks, not noticeable to the pilot in normal flying. But, even a 172 will exhibit the effects of engine torque when flying at very slow speeds. If you trim a 172 in slow flight, and gently increase or decrease engine power, you will roll the plane a little.