I think you failed to realize VRAM architecture works differently on the 40 series compared to AMD, if you’re going to go over board on settings of course it’s going to use more especially with DX12.
@MatsRundkvist57 A 4070 is noticably better than a 4060ti even with 16gb. 10-20fps faster than the 4060ti.
I also thought about upgrading my system with a 4070ti at some point (with the i9 9900k I got) but does the combo of a 9th gen Intel and a RTX 40XX really perform that good?
From what I read the RTX 40 cards simply cannot reach full potential on such a combination as the system will be bottlenecked by the CPU (which already is a factor on MSFS).
It would be interesting to see a few metrics like FPS and frame times (CPU ms vs. GPU ms vs. FPS) in some performance heavy region (NYC) on high default settings (including multiplayer and real time traffic) if possible 
Yes. I have not uploaded images here previously but I tried to show screenshots from Geforce Experience (first one) and MSFS2020 (second one) to show it.
MODERATOR EDIT:
I have an 8gb 4060 ti and an i5 12600kf and I can assure you that I play everything in ultra at 1080p without dlss and with taa at 120… it looks outrageous and I’ve tested it in New York City with a small plane (introductory flight) and it consumes about 7gb of vram and it goes at about 50fps on average, I’ve also tried it in Paris and it’s more of the same, the 16gb 4060ti is designed for editing etc… it doesn’t make sense those 16gb and a 4070 having 12… there must be a reason… it’s true that 10vram would have been better but with dlss there’s no problem even though I don’t use it.
Yo tengo una 4060 ti de 8 gigas y un i5 12600kf y te puedo asegurar que juego todo en ultra a 1080p sin dlss y con taa a 120…se ve de escandalo y lo he probado en la ciudad de nueva york con una avioneta (vuelo introductorio) y me consume unos 7 gigas de vram y me va a a unos 50fps de media, tambien he probado en paris y mas de lo mismo, la 4060ti de 16 gigas esta pensada para edicion etc…no tiene sentido esos 16 gigas y que una 4070 tenga 12…por algo sera…si es verdad que 10 de vram hubiera estado mejor pero con el dlss no hay problema aunque yo no lo uso.
I would of gone for the 4070. I have the 4070 Super and its a great card. 12Gb VRAM is enough.