I'll agree with this, I'm distinctly average but noticed the difference when I upgraded my wheels from some decent enough fulcrum 5's to some light and aero 38mm carbon jobbies from Zed. And in turn my partner noticed a difference when she inherited the F5s to replaced some stock v heavy bontrager things that came with her bike.
of course its not just rim weight, but lighter is generally faster / easier on hills, the better aero dynamics help maintain speed for less effort, and thus you'll be less tired as a result over a given distance, there are a lot of things going on.
Running with a better (lower rolling resistance) tyre is definitely a cheaper upgrade than new wheels though.
Super deep obviously has the more pose factor and being a simple lad that will appeal to you, but as you get deeper inevitability you get heaver, but the aero advantage doesn't improve much more , i.e. diminishing returns so its a balancing act where you strike 40mm - 50mm - 60mm which depends a bit on the riding you do - more hilly would suggest not super deep may be more beneficial, but they have a bit less cool as fark factor.
