For what it's worth I've found that I can actually hold my own in VR, provided I spot the MiG early. The recent improvement to VR zoom has made this much easier. It just takes a lot of practice, but having a beefy computer does help. Most of the time, if I get shot down it's because I just didn't know the enemy was there.
If you're close enough to be in a turning fight then the AWACs BRA calls will be pretty useless - too much delay. A human controller will do better. In that situation I just assume the guy is behind me and I need to manuver to get him off my tail somehow.