Its not that doing thousands of touch and goes in a 172 makes you a better pilot or not...its what you see while your doing that. I could have left my instructor job last summer but I didnt cause I wanted to get more real world expierence. After dealing with thunderstorms, ice, mechanical failures, and some lower cielings that I flew in this past summer and fall have made me a much better pilot and Im glad i got that expierence.