Back before the F-14 first came out, I had the pleasure of being at Grumman for a flight demo against an F4. When they bragged that the F-14 had the capabilities of shooting down 6 enemy aircraft over the horizon, I discretely told one of the Generals there that I would prefer 10 F-16s to each of his F-14 for virtually the same price as one F-14 (in dollar value back then). I told him that he could shoot down six of my team, but I would bankrupt him with numbers. He didn't smile.
We seem to have lost track of the fact that even though we lost too many young men in raids over Germany, we beat them with sheer numbers.
Stealth is great, but give me air superiority by out numbering my opponent.
Low price, simple systems, superior numbers.
F-16's can't take off from and land on aircraft carriers. F-16's did not have the capability to carry the AIM-54 Phoenix missile, the most advanced air-to-air weapons system available. Unless you have designed Naval aircraft, you have no idea of the much higher stress requirements that are built into the airframe. You are comparing apples and oranges, two entirely different animals.