Sorry... anything that delivers the same level of intended capability WILL cost just as much per aircraft, and would require a complete new pile of "from-the-start" development money.
F-35 development is nearly complete, NONE of that money can be gotten back, it is gone. To than start all over would be idiocy... something POGO has shown it possesses in massive quantities.
POGO's ideal new strike-fighter would, to hold to their cost guidelines, end up being a new version of the F-5A Freedom Fighter/F-5E Tiger II... with little more capabilities than the originals had.